Tag Archives: Banking

Engagement Banking Leader Backbase Raises €120M from Motive Partners

Motive Partners

Having bootstrapped to €200 million in revenue, Backbase is doubling down on its successful category strategy in partnership with specialist investor Motive Partners

Amsterdam, June 9, 2022 – Backbase, creator of the category-leading Engagement Banking Platform, raised €120 million in growth equity funding from Motive Partners. Having grown organically to over €200 million in revenue, Backbase is now partnering with a Fintech specialist private equity firm, to further strengthen its claim on the Engagement Banking category.
This growth investment values Backbase at €2.5 billion. Motive Partners is a founder-friendly partner, fully supporting Backbase in remaining an independent force and driving the Engagement Banking strategy, by continuing to focus on customer-centric innovation that transforms the financial services industry’s siloed channels and legacy applications.
Most banks struggle with a patchwork of disconnected, point and channel solutions that were never designed to service the customer holistically, leaving behind a raft of broken journeys for their customers. This investment will allow Backbase to double down on its vision for Engagement Banking and accelerate its mission of re-architecting banking around the customer.

Engagement Banking is a paradigm shift. Rather than stitching these legacy applications together and trying to rework banking around outdated technology, banks and credit unions can instantly leverage the power of a cloud-based engagement banking platform to create frictionless customer journeys across all the stages of the customer lifecycle. From onboarding, to servicing, to lending, to expanding share of wallet, this investment supports the growth through product expansion and further growing Backbase’s sales and marketing operations.
“Today is a major milestone for more than 2,000 Backbasers and 150 customers around the world, to celebrate the incredible progress we made. With this partnership, we’re even better equipped to drive our Engagement Banking vision to the next level. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and the positive impact we can make,” Jouk Pleiter, Founder and CEO of Backbase said. “To all our customers, I personally want to restate our long-term commitment to being your independent, long-term partner in innovation. For us, it is still day one.”

Motive Partners were advised by Goldman Sachs as corporate finance advisor, Proskauer Rose LLP and Loyens & Loeff as legal counsel, EY as accounting and tax, and Motive Create for technical due diligence. Backbase was advised by De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek as legal counsel.

About Backbase
Backbase is a financial technology company on a mission to re-architect banking around the customer. Our whitelabel Engagement Banking platform empowers banks and credit unions to rapidly digitize their customer-facing operations and create seamless journeys that meet and exceed the expectations of today’s digital-savvy customers. With Backbase, banks and credit unions can put their customers back in the heart of their business.
Industry analysts Forrester, Gartner, Celent, Omdia and IDC continuously recognize Backbase’s category leadership position. Over 150 financials around the world have embraced the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform – including Advanzia, Banco Caja Social, Banco de la Nacion Peru, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Berenberg, BNP Paribas, Citizens Bank, ENT, Greater Bank, HDFC, Judo Bank, KeyBank, National Bank of Bahrain, Navy Federal Credit Union, Natwest, Pictet & Cie, Raiffeisen, SchoolFirst Federal Credit Union, Standard Bank, Société Générale, TPBank, Washington State Employee Credit Union and Wildfire Credit Union.
Backbase was founded in 2003 in Amsterdam (global HQ), with regional offices in Atlanta (Americas HQ), Boise, Mexico City, Toronto, London, Cardiff, Dubai, Kraków, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City and London, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings
“For more than a decade, Backbase has shown leadership and innovation in enhancing digital relationships between financial institutions and its customers,” explained Rob Heyvaert, Founder and Managing Partner of Motive Partners. “We’re excited to support Jouk and the Backbase team with this initial fundraise as they continue to expand, grow and build the leading, customer-centric, Engagement Banking Platform globally.”
Neil Cochrane, Partner at Motive Partners commented, “Backbase continues to lead an innovative category underpinning the banking sector, and we believe that together we have a unique growth opportunity to build upon Backbase’s strong foundations. As Backbase continues its growth journey, we’re excited to leverage our team’s depth of expertise alongside Jouk and the team.”
“Backbase’s proven track record of entrepreneurship and organic growth will continue. Our formula is simple: focus on the needs of our customers and empower highly skilled teams to deliver. We’re changing a big industry, which is hard work. Having critical mass and market momentum allows us to stay laser-focused,” Pleiter added. “Together we’re making it happen.”

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Trustly, backed by Nordic Capital, acquires Ecospend, further strengthening position in the UK

Nordic Capital

Trustly, the leading global payments platform for digital Account-to-Account transactions (“A2A”) today announces the acquisition of the UK-based Open Banking Payments platform Ecospend. Ecospend’s strong UK A2A product and full bank connectivity will complement and enable Trustly to deliver a market-leading product in the UK, and further accelerate its UK roll-out  – one of Europe’s most rapidly growing A2A regions and a core growth market for Trustly.

Four years after PSD2 made Open Banking a regulatory requirement in the UK, the market presents a dynamic ecosystem, with rapidly accelerating consumer adoption, and strong transaction volume growth. As previously announced, the UK is one of Trustly’s core growth markets. Having set an ambitious target to be the game-changing market leader in the UK, the acquisition of Ecospend now accelerates Trustly’s journey towards that target.

Trustly, backed by Nordic Capital, acquires Ecospend, further strengthening position in the UK Image

Ecospend, founded in 2017, is a FCA UK regulated A2A payments provider powering the next generation of open banking based payments and financial data services. Ecospend serves clients in a range of industries, including Public Sector where the company has a key contract with the tax authority of the UK government, HMRC, which went live in March 2021. In the past year, Ecospend has processed over £5bn in A2A payments to over 2 million consumers. Ecospend’s strong UK Payment Initiation and Account Information Services (PIS & AIS), as well as connectivity with 80+ UK banks makes it a strong fit with Trustly’s collection capabilities and wider European footprint.

Johan Tjärnberg, Group CEO of Trustly, comments: “I am delighted to welcome Ecospend to Trustly. This is a perfect strategic fit and I am convinced that it will enable us to deliver a market-leading product in the UK, allowing us to capture opportunities and accelerate our current UK expansion.”

Metin Erkman, Founder of Ecospend: “Together with Trustly we will be able to further accelerate our expansion in the UK and continue to raise the bar for service excellence to our customers. We will continue to leverage our market-leading technology and bank connectivity in the UK and, together with Trustly, broaden our capabilities to stretch across Europe and further markets. We are really excited to join the Trustly family.”

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The parties, Trustly AB and Ecospend Technologies Ltd, have agreed to not disclose any financial details.

For more information, please contact:

Charlotte Eriksson
Head of Strategic Transformation and Head of Corporate Communications at Trustly
+46 (0)76 115 32 10, charlotte.eriksson@trustly.com

About Trustly

Founded in 2008, Trustly is a global leader in Open Banking Payments. Our digital account-to-account platform redefines the speed, simplicity and security of payments, linking some of the world’s most prominent merchants with consumers directly from their online banking accounts. Trustly can handle the entire payment journey, setting us apart from the competition and enabling us to offer an attractive alternative to the traditional card networks at a lower cost. Today we serve 8,100 merchants, connecting them with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks in over 30 countries; and in 2021 we processed over $28 billion in transaction volume in our global network. We are a licensed Payment Institution under the second payment services directive (PSD2) and operate under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in Europe. In the US, we are state regulated as required to serve our target markets. Read more at www.trustly.com.

About Ecospend

Founded in 2017, Ecospend is an Open Finance Technology platform. In 2021 Ecospend won one of the largest ever Open Banking contracts, with HMRC. In the past year Ecospend has processed over £5bn in transaction volume from its client portfolio which, in addition to the UK Government, includes several blue chip private sector clients such as ITV, Toolstation, Anglian Water and London Mutual Credit Union. Ecospend operates under the supervision of the UK FCA. Read more at www.ecospend.com

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ClearBank raises £175 million led by Apax Digital to accelerate global expansion

Apax
21ST MARCH 2022
  • ClearBank is the #1 ranked fastest-growing UK tech company according to Deloitte
  • Largest UK next generation clearing and embedded banking platform, with more than 200 financial institutions and fintech customers, 13 million accounts, and £3bn in balances
  • The only next generation player with direct access to all bank payment schemes, and the only embedded banking provider delivering bank accounts at scale, in the UK
  • Investment will accelerate ClearBank’s international growth and expansion into new partnerships, products, and services

 

ClearBank, the largest next generation clearing and embedded banking platform in the UK, today announced a £175 million equity investment. The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity arm of Apax, a leading global private equity advisory firm. Existing investors, CFFI UK Ventures (Barbados) Ltd and PPF Financial Holdings BV, also participated.

The new investment will accelerate ClearBank’s global expansion of its clearing and embedded banking offering, initially in Europe before moving into North America and Asia Pacific.

The first new clearing bank in the UK in over 250 years at launch in 2017, ClearBank is the only next generation payments provider with direct access to all banking payment schemes in the UK (e.g. Faster Payments, BACS, CHAPS). As a regulated bank, ClearBank manages transactions end-to-end from order transmission to settlement, liquidity management and clearing.

As a leading supplier of embedded banking services in the UK, ClearBank provides over 13 million accounts to the customers of leading financial brands. ClearBank is the only platform providing bank accounts, with FSCS deposit protection, at scale, bringing embedded banking services to the mass market. This product offering is complimented by a range of related value-added services, including FX and multi-currency accounts

Unlike other providers with legacy systems, ClearBank’s end-to-end offering of regulated financial services is accessed via a single API to a powerful cloud-native software platform, which delivers greater speed, efficiency, and ease-of-use. It also enables innovation, including settling payments between customers on the ClearBank platform instantaneously, removing friction and lowering cost.

As a truly cloud native bank, the platform offers a new paradigm in resilience, with industry-leading uptime with no downtime for maintenance, unlimited scalability and elasticity, and triple real-time redundancy. Operationally, ClearBank has built a financially sustainable and highly scalable, low risk, business model, with all its £3bn of deposits held securely at the Bank of England, providing complete peace of mind.

ClearBank has seen tremendous growth and has been recognised as the #1 fastest growing tech company in Deloitte’s 2021 UK Technology Fast 50 awards together with the 2021 Card & Payments Award for Best Service.

This impressive combination has led to a customer base of over 200 financial institutions and fintechs, including Tide, Coinbase, Chip and Oaknorth Bank. ClearBank is also the only financial services provider to be awarded two grants, totalling £85 million, from the Banking and Competition Remedies (BCR) fund in delivering competition and innovation to UK SMEs.

ClearBank also plans to expand its range of products and services to include direct API-based access to interbank payment schemes such as SEPA, enhanced multi-currency accounts, and additional FX services. These capabilities will allow ClearBank to support existing customers in scaling internationally and welcome new customers in multiple markets.

Charles McManus, CEO at ClearBank, said: “ClearBank is the first proven and fully regulated cloud-native clearing bank in the UK for over 250 years. Over the last five years we have demonstrated the success of our business model and through our work with leading financial service providers, helped to both unlock their potential and bring about positive and meaningful change for UK businesses and consumers.”

“Our revenue growth is the proof of the momentum we have been gathering since 2017. It is this proof point and our transformative effect on access to banking services, traditionally a space characterised by high barriers to entry, which has given us the credibility to partner with and deliver seamless and secure embedded banking for award winning financial institutionspowerful fintech disrupters and government bodies alike.”

“The next challenge is delivering this innovation globally. To achieve this, we needed a strategic partner with the right cultural fit, sector expertise and geographic experience, something we found in Apax Digital.”

Mark Beith, Partner at Apax Digital, said: “All companies are becoming fintech companies, and ClearBank is providing the clearing and embedded banking infrastructure for them – starting with fintechs themselves. We’ve seen the power of its platform first-hand, and we are excited to partner with Charles and the existing shareholders to take ClearBank global.”

Niccolo Ferragamo, Principal at Apax Digital, added: “Combining a banking license with a modern, agile and scalable embedded banking infrastructure is hard. Doing it at scale, and while delivering exceptional customer satisfaction, is truly special. ClearBank has been quietly building the clear next generation leader in the UK on all key metrics, and we are thrilled to continue innovating the category together.”

ClearBank was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP. The investment remains subject to PRA and FCA approval.

 

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CVC Asia V agrees acquisition of Affin Hwang AM

CVC Capital Partners

CVC signals strong confidence in Malaysia through landmark investment in leading asset management company

Affin Banking Group (“Affin Group”) has agreed to transfer its controlling stake in Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad (“Affin Hwang AM”) to CVC Capital Partners Asia Fund V. This transaction is expected to be completed in Q3 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Since its inception in 2001, Affin Hwang AM has grown to become one of Malaysia’s leading asset management firms with a diverse client base of public and private companies, institutions, pension funds, and individual investors. As at 31 December 2021, Affin Hwang AM as well as its wholly-owned Islamic fund management arm AIIMAN Asset Management, have a combined RM81 billion in assets under administration.

Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Affin Bank, said, “We are pleased to see the entry of CVC, a global private equity player, into a home-grown asset management house which is testament to the confidence in the growth prospects of the financial services sector and the Malaysian economy as a whole. With the continuation of the management of Affin Hwang AM helmed by Dato’ Teng Chee Wai and the institutional shareholding presence of Nikko Asset Management (“Nikko AM”), we believe that the business of Affin Hwang AM will continue to perform well moving forward and are confident that CVC, Affin Hwang AM management and together with Nikko AM are committed to support Affin Hwang AM’s growth, its superior long-term commitment to deliver value to clients and further develop its talented employees.”

Dato’ Teng Chee Wai, Managing Director of Affin Hwang AM, commented, “We are excited to work with CVC, together with our longstanding partner, Nikko AM, to chart the course for Affin Hwang AM’s next phase of growth and to advance the development of the Malaysian capital markets. The entry of CVC, a leading global private equity and investment advisory firm comes at the right time as we continue to broaden our suite of product offerings to cater to the growing needs of our clients and partners. We remain deeply committed to helping our clients build their wealth, and we look forward to partnering with CVC and Nikko AM to drive our commitment to our valued clients.”

Alvin Lim, Senior Managing Director at CVC, added, “This marks our sixth investment in Malaysia since 2007, bringing our total capital invested to over US$1 billion. We remain confident in the strong economic fundamentals of the country, and believe this investment is an important opportunity for us to contribute to the continued development of Malaysia’s asset management industry and capital markets, as well as to grow Malaysia into the region’s leading asset management hub. We are particularly excited to partner with Affin Hwang AM’s talented management team, who has shown a track record of outperformance, and Nikko AM, who will remain as a strategic shareholder. We look forward to supporting the management team in expanding the investment and product capabilities and entering other ASEAN markets, by leveraging on our experiences and network across the region.”

Eleanor Seet, President of Nikko Asset Management Asia Limited and Head of Asia-ex Japan of Nikko AM, opined, “Our commitment to the region and our clients in Malaysia remains steadfast. We are delighted to continue our long-term partnership with the AHAM management team and welcome CVC. We believe the synergy of the new partnership will continue to strengthen the growth trajectory of Affin Hwang AM and enhance our ability to deliver progressive solutions to valued clients.”

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Anchorage Digital Raises $350 Million in Series D Funding Round, Led by KKR

KKR

New round values premier digital asset platform at over $3 billion

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Anchorage Digital (“Anchorage” or the “Company”), the premier digital asset platform for institutions, today announced it has closed a $350 million Series D funding round led by global investment firm KKR. Participants include Goldman Sachs, Alameda Research, Andreessen Horowitz, Apollo credit funds, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Elad Gil, GIC, GoldenTree Asset Management, Innovius Capital, Kraken, Lux Capital, PayPal Ventures, Senator Investment Group, Standard Investments, Thoma Bravo, and Wellington Management. This funding round values Anchorage at over $3 billion.

“As more and more institutions look to add crypto services into their offerings, we find ourselves at an inflection point,” said Diogo Mónica, President and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital, “This funding positions Anchorage Digital to meet the unprecedented institutional demand for this rapidly evolving market. We’re grateful that KKR and this wider group of investors shares our vision to expand regulated institutional access to digital assets.”

The first crypto-native company to receive a banking charter from the Office of the Comptroller (OCC) in January 2021, Anchorage is making it safe and accessible for institutions to participate in the rapidly evolving digital asset space. Anchorage began as a custodian and has built a robust suite of additional services such as secure trading, financing, staking, and governance.

Anchorage Digital plans to use this latest funding to enhance its infrastructure solutions, specifically for global financial firms and fintech innovators. It will also invest to accelerate and simplify clients’ engagement with the latest in crypto innovation and increase the size of its team to continue to expand product offerings and grow its client base.

KKR is investing in Anchorage through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II, a fund dedicated to growth equity investment opportunities in the technology space. This will be the firm’s first direct equity investment in a digital asset company.

“As a pioneer in enabling institutional investors to access digital assets, Anchorage has built a best in class, institutional grade digital asset platform that combines the best practices of both modern security and usability,” said Ben Pederson, Senior Leader on KKR’s Technology Growth Equity team. “We are thrilled to lead this Series D round and work with Diogo, Nathan and their talented team as they continue to support the institutional adoption of digital assets through their differentiated, regulated and integrated suite of solutions.”

“We are certain Anchorage will be a crucial part of the digital asset infrastructure and we are excited to be an investor,” said Oli Harris, Head of North America Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs.

Anchorage’s Series D funding follows a dynamic year of growth. Significant milestones include:

  • Receiving a federal banking charter from the OCC
  • Announcing an $80 million Series C round that was led by GIC and included Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, Lux Capital, and Indico
  • Facilitating Visa’s purchase of one of the most popular series of NFTs, Cryptopunk #7610
  • Growing headcount by 175% to date in 2021
  • Business growth in excess of 800% for each of the past two years.

About Anchorage Digital

Anchorage Digital is the most advanced digital asset platform for investors. From custody and trading to staking, governance, and financing, Anchorage offers a full range of crypto-native financial solutions that are compliant, built to adapt to emerging blockchain use cases, and made to evolve alongside the needs of digital asset investors. Today, Anchorage serves many of the largest institutional investors and enterprise brands in the digital asset space.

Anchorage Digital Bank makes it simple and secure for institutions to gain exposure to digital assets as the first federally chartered digital asset bank. With secure custody at its core, Anchorage is the premier partner for institutions and corporations. Anchorage offers financial solutions for today and tomorrow. To learn more, please visit anchorage.com and on Twitter @Anchorage.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media Contacts:

Anchorage:
Lexi Wangler
anchorage@dittopr.co

KKR:

Julia Kosygina or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
(212) 750-8300
media@kkr.com

Disclaimer

This press release is intended for informational purposes only. It is not to be construed as and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities in Anchor Labs, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries, and should not be relied upon to make any investment decisions. Furthermore, nothing within this announcement is intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice and its contents should not be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or digital asset or to engage in any transaction therein.

SOURCE Anchorage Digital

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Audax Private Equity Completes the Sale of Acuant, Inc. to GB Group Plc

Audax Group

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has successfully completed the sale of Acuant, Inc. (“Acuant”) to GB Group Plc (“GBG”).

Acuant is a leading identity verification and KYC/AML compliance provider. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Acuant’s product offerings include identity verification, digital identity / eDNA proofing, and anti-fraud regulatory compliance tools. Acuant has more than 200 employees worldwide, serving a base of over 1,000 customers.

Since coming under Audax ownership in September of 2018, Acuant has achieved several key milestones of transformative growth:

  • Led significant team buildout efforts in critical engineering and go-to-market roles to accelerate revenue growth and product innovation
  • Diversified from a physical ID verification point solution to a primarily cloud-based digital identity proofing and fraud prevention platform
  • Completed the acquisitions of IdentityMind and Hello Soda to expand their product suite, breaking into new verticals and strengthening footholds within existing ones
  • Received FedRAMP Authorization for their cloud-delivered identity verification solution for government agencies

Tim Mack, Managing Director at Audax, remarked, “We are proud of the growth that Acuant has achieved in such a short period of time. The team has built a comprehensive identity verification and compliance platform, that has helped establish them as a leader in the global identity market.”

Iveshu Bhatia, Managing Director at Audax, added, “Our partnership with Acuant over the past few years has been highly collaborative. We are proud of everything the team has accomplished and wish them all the best as they continue their journey with GBG.”

Yossi Zekri, Chief Executive Officer of Acuant, commented, “Audax has played a crucial role in helping Acuant execute on its growth plan over the past few years. Through their support, we were able to establish a strong set of business fundamentals, bring on a world-class management and engineering team, and execute two highly strategic acquisitions. We are excited for the next phase of our journey with GBG as we look to become a true leader in global digital identity verification.”

Raymond James Financial served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Acuant.

 

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Nordic Capital-backed Nordax completes acquisition of Bank Norwegian – creating a leading specialist bank in the Nordics

Nordic Capital
Nordic Capital-backed Nordax completes acquisition of Bank Norwegian - creating a leading specialist bank in the Nordics Image

 

On November 2, 2021, Nordax’s public offer for Bank Norwegian was completed. This combined company will have the necessary scale and resources to be a leading force in shaping the future of consumer finance, offering innovative solutions that will challenge the large incumbent banks for the benefit of customers. Nordic Capital and Sampo look forward to continuing to support the combined business and see strong potential for further value creation.

The combination brings together two leading businesses with distinct but complementary strengths, creating a powerful digital platform for continued expansion. By capitalising on their respective strengths, collaborating and jointly innovating within the European banking sector, they will be able to further develop their already best-in-class digital customer experience.

Nordax was taken private by Nordic Capital VIII and Sampo in 2018, and in 2019 the Nordic Capital IX and Sampo became the largest shareholders in publicly listed Bank Norwegian (BANO). As committed and active owners, with extensive financial sector expertise Nordic Capital and Sampo fully support the combination of the two banks. The combined company will as of September 30, 2021, have approximately two million customers, around 470 employees and a total loan book of approximately SEK 65 billion.

“This is a milestone, not only for these two great companies, but for the financial services industry as a whole. By joining forces, both clients and employees will benefit from a scalable Nordic banking platform, enhanced service offering, innovative solutions and a best-in-class customer experience. Nordic Capital looks forward to realising the full potential and further supporting the combined company as it challenges the large incumbent banks with its more competitive customer offering”, says Christian Frick, Partner and Head of Financial Services, Nordic Capital Advisors.

“We are looking forward to partnering up with Nordax and our owners Nordic Capital and Sampo. A private setting will bring a more long-term view and the opportunity to take actions to fully realise the potential of our combined platforms” says Klara Lise Aasen interim CEO of Bank Norwegian.

“I am truly excited about the future and look forward to realising the opportunities for Bank Norwegian and Nordax. The combination brings together two leading operations with complementary strengths, creating a leading specialist bank in the Nordics”, says Jacob Lundblad, CEO of Nordax.

With Financial Services as one of its focus sectors, Nordic Capital brings extensive experience, a strong and active sector network and a dedicated team with local presence across Northern Europe. As one of Europe’s leading financial services investors, Nordic Capital has invested EUR 2.9 bn in 11 financial services companies since 2004. It has achieved repeatable success and developed thriving companies as evidenced by the performance of financial services companies such as Resurs Bank, Max Matthiessen, Bambora and Trustly, as well as the most recent investment Sambla Group.

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Press contact:

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Nordic Capital Advisors
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

 

About Nordax:

Nordax Bank AB (publ) is a leading specialist bank in Northern Europe owned by Nordic Capital VIII and Sampo. Nordax has around 294,000 private customers in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Germany. Nordax is a specialist bank that through responsible lending helps people make informed decisions for a life they can afford. It is a flexible complement to the major banks. Instead of quantity, Nordax has specialised in a few selected products: personal loans, mortgages, equity release products and savings accounts. Since 2019, Svensk Hypotekspension, which is a specialist in equity release products, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordax. Nordax has around 360 employees, practically all of whom work from a central office in Stockholm. The credit assessment process is one of Nordax’s core competencies. It is thorough, sound and data driven. Nordax’s customers are financially stable. As of 30 September 2021, lending to the public amounted to SEK 31.7 billion and deposits amounted to SEK 27.5 billion. For further information about Nordax, please visit https://www.nordaxgroup.com

About Bank Norwegian:

Bank Norwegian is a fully digital bank that provides simple and competitive products to the retail customer market with a strong offering in personal loans, credit cards and savings. Norwegian Finans Holding ASA, operating through its subsidiary Bank Norwegian, was established in 2007 and was listed on Oslo Børs in 2016. Bank Norwegian has more than 1.6 million customers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. The business is based on leading digital solutions and analysis models, synergies with the airline Norwegian, attractive terms for its customers, cost-effective operations, and effective risk selection. For further information about Bank Norwegian, please visit https://www.banknorwegian.no

About Nordic Capital:

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 19 billion in over 120 investments. The most recent entities are Nordic Capital X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital and Nordic Capital Evolution with EUR 1.2 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, the UK, the US, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit https://www.nordiccapital.com

“Nordic Capital” refers to, depending on the context, any, or all, Nordic Capital branded entities, vehicles, structures and associated entities. The general partners and/or delegated portfolio managers of Nordic Capital’s entities and vehicles are advised by several non-discretionary sub-advisory entities, any or all of which are referred to as “Nordic Capital Advisors”.

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PaymentCloud secures $10 million credit facility from Espresso Capital

Encino, Calif., — June 24, 2021 — Espresso Capital announced today that it has provided a $10 million credit facility to PaymentCloud, a leading provider of credit card processing solutions for retail, eCommerce, and non-traditional businesses. The company will use the capital to fuel its continued growth.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Espresso to access the capital we need to expand our business,” says PaymentCloud CEO Shawn Silver. “There are so many opportunities in the payments space right now that we can take advantage of. With the credit facility from Espresso, we’ll be able to grow our core business by making strategic investments in marketing and product development, expanding our team with some important new hires, and further enhancing our overall position.”

The financing marks the first time PaymentCloud has raised outside capital. “Although we’ll eventually look to raise equity, we have so much growth potential right now that we didn’t see any reason for dilution to fund additional growth,” notes Silver. “Venture debt was the obvious choice for a successful business like ours.” Expected growth was a contributing factor to PaymentCloud’s decision to expand its workforce and office space in recent months.

“The payment processing industry is evolving quickly and growing fast,” says Espresso Executive Director, Steven Michau. “Shawn and his team have built a great company with a model that works and that’s both profitable and predictable. We see a lot of upside potential for the business as they continue to invest for growth.”

Recognized as No. 295 on the national Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2020, PaymentCloud is quickly establishing itself as a maverick in the payments industry. The company was recently shortlisted for fastest-growing companies in the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley areas, as well as by the Financial Times. The company has grown by more than 1,500 percent over the past five years.

“Working with Espresso has been a great experience,” Silver continues. “It’s an excellent team and one that instantly made us feel comfortable. We knew we were in good hands. We’ll definitely expand our partnership over time as we look to further grow the business both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”

About PaymentCloud

With 80+ employees newly upgraded to a 17,000-square-foot space in Encino, California, this dynamic group of young payment professionals facilitate credit card processing for merchants spanning a multitude of industries. An easy application, transparent approval process, and hundreds of integration options set PaymentCloud apart. While on the partnership side of things, PaymentCloud’s dedicated department works with over 80 percent of top digital ISOs that utilize its hard-to-place program for its seamless submission process, efficient onboarding, and management tools at just the click of a button.

About Espresso Capital

Espresso empowers companies with innovative venture debt solutions. Since 2009, we’ve helped more than 290 technology companies and their investors accelerate growth, extend runway, and increase strategic flexibility with non-dilutive capital. Learn more at www.espressocapital.com.

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Verituity Announces $10 Million Series A Funding to Accelerate Its Digital Payments Platform

Forgepoint

Platform Modernizes Banking Treasury Services and Powers First-time and On-time Verified Digital Payouts

MCLEAN, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Verituity, the verified digital payments platform that modernizes banks treasury services and connects banks, payers and payees to first-time and on-time digital payouts experiences, announces the closing of a $10 million Series A funding co-led by ForgePoint Capital and Ardent Venture Partners. Verituity plans to use the funds to expand its go to market efforts and enhance its cloud-based verified digital payout platform. Don Dixon, Managing Director at ForgePoint Capital, and Phil Bronner, Co-founder and General Partner at Ardent Venture Partners, will join Verituity’s board of directors.

“We look to invest in innovative companies like Verituity that drive value through automation and intelligence. Whether it’s insurance companies paying claims, businesses paying their suppliers, or merchants issuing refunds, Verituity’s platform leverages automation and intelligence to connect banks, payors and payees to verified digital payouts.”

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“As the demand for secure and reliable digital payouts continues to surge, our mission is to extend a bank’s ability to offer innovative digital solutions to their business clients that power first-time and on-time digital payouts. By making it frictionless for banks to connect to our platform, banks can modernize their treasury services, reduce their payout and compliance risks, lower operating costs, and rapidly launch new revenue streams,” said Ben Turner, CEO and founder of Verituity.

The growth of digital payouts is surging as more and more businesses seek to digitize their payouts to their customers and suppliers. Verituity empowers banks to take advantage of this shift by enabling branded and differentiated digital payout solutions for their business clients. Verituity’s cloud-based, bank grade platform integrates and automates identity verification, payment choice, payment account validation, risks and data compliance, and verified digital payment orchestration into a unified web and mobile experience. These experiences provide the bank and payer with confidence that they are paying the right payee and the right payment account on the first time and on time.

“Verituity sits at the intersection of identity verification, fraud prevention, and successful digital payouts. The company’s platform is a transformative solution that places verification at the core of digital payouts to extend the value of banks’ treasury services and enables them to compete with fintechs more effectively. We are excited to partner with Verituity and help them lean into growth as they solve a critical problem in payments,” said Don Dixon, Managing Partner at ForgePoint.

Phil Bronner, Co-founder and General Partner at Ardent Venture Partners, added, “We look to invest in innovative companies like Verituity that drive value through automation and intelligence. Whether it’s insurance companies paying claims, businesses paying their suppliers, or merchants issuing refunds, Verituity’s platform leverages automation and intelligence to connect banks, payors and payees to verified digital payouts.”

About Verituity

Headquartered in McLean, Va., Verituity is a powerful cloud-based platform that modernizes bank treasury services and connects banks, payers and payees to first-time and on-time digital payouts and pay-by-anything experiences. Verituity’s bank-grade platform places verification at the core of digital payouts by seamlessly unifying and automating identity verification, payment choice, payment account verification and verified payment orchestration so payors and payees can make or receive digital payments with confidence. For more information, please visit: verituity.com.

About ForgePoint Capital

ForgePoint Capital is the premier cybersecurity venture fund investing in transformative companies protecting the digital world. The firm is one of the most prolific investors in early and growth stage cybersecurity companies with over 40 global cybersecurity investments. The team brings more than eight decades of company building and value creation experience, drawing upon the largest network of trusted cybersecurity industry experts and customers to support entrepreneurs who are building great companies. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the firm partners with exceptional cybersecurity entrepreneurs worldwide. For more information, please visit www.forgepointcap.com or follow us @ForgePointCap.

About Ardent Venture Partners

Ardent Venture Partners is a Washington DC-based early-stage venture fund investing in companies located in growing tech hubs that transform the way we work. AVP sectors include vertical applications that leverage an automation driver such as AI/ML, robotics, marketplaces, or low code/no code; Future of Work; and Security. AVP GP and CEO partners are located in the Mid-Atlantic (New York to Washington DC), Atlanta, and Boulder Denver. www.ardent.vc

Contacts

Media:
Lisa Throckmorton
lthrockmorton@req.co

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Paysafe Completes Business Combination with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. II

CVC Capital Partners

Transaction and move to capital markets expected to accelerate growth, enhance margins, and continue to build upon Paysafe’s M&A strategy

Paysafe Group Holdings Limited, a leading specialized payments platform, and Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: BFT), (BFT WS) (“Foley Trasimene”), a special purpose acquisition company, today announced that they have completed their previously announced merger. The merger was approved at a special meeting of stockholders of Foley Trasimene on March 25, 2021, and closed today, March 30, 2021.  The combined company now operates as Paysafe Limited (“Paysafe”) and Paysafe’s common shares and warrants will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbols “PSFE” and “PSFE.WS” respectively, starting tomorrow, March 31, 2021.

Paysafe is a leading specialized payments platform, with a two-sided consumer and merchant network, whose core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers around the world to connect and transact seamlessly through payment processing; digital wallets including the Skrill and Neteller brands; and online cash solutions including paysafecard and Paysafecash. William P. Foley, II, Founder and Chairman of Foley Trasimene will serve as Chairman of Paysafe’s newly formed Board of Directors. Paysafe’s management team headed up by Philip McHugh, CEO, will continue to lead the combined company. ¹

William P. Foley, II, Founder and Chairman of Foley Trasimene and Chairman of Paysafe, stated, “We are thrilled to complete this business combination with Paysafe and I am personally excited to continue to work with Philip, Blackstone, CVC and the entire board as we continue to execute against our plan for accelerated and profitable growth. Paysafe has the right assets, team and strategy in place to capitalize on a tremendous opportunity for long-term value creation in the payments industry, especially in iGaming which is really beginning to open up across the United States.”

Philip McHugh, CEO of Paysafe, stated, “The closing of this transaction and our listing on the New York Stock Exchange is a huge milestone for Paysafe and getting to this point today is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team around the world.  I would also like to thank Bill and the Foley Trasimene team for their backing and belief in our opportunity, and of course Blackstone and CVC for their continued investment and support.  We’re excited to be embarking on the next stage of our growth journey as a public company.”

Eli Nagler, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Today is a significant milestone for Paysafe and a testament to the excellent work of their world-class management team over several years. We believe Paysafe has a long runway for further growth and look forward to remaining part of the team and seeing their continued success as a public company.”

Peter Rutland, a Managing Partner at CVC, said, “We are delighted for Paysafe as they begin their next chapter as a public company. By combining Paysafe’s leading solutions in high-growth, specialized markets with Paysafe’s seasoned management team, now supplemented with Bill Foley’s track record of enhancing organic and inorganic growth, this company is incredibly well-positioned to continue a strong growth trajectory and create value for shareholders and all other stakeholders.”

Advisors

Credit Suisse acted as lead financial advisor and capital markets advisor to Paysafe. Morgan Stanley also acted as financial advisor to Paysafe. BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Barclays, Wolfe Capital Markets and Advisory, BMO Capital Markets and Evercore also acted as capital markets advisors. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to Paysafe. Proton Partners acted as strategic advisor to Paysafe.

RBC Capital Markets LLC., BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisors to Foley Trasimene.  Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal counsel to Foley Trasimene.

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