5 Big FinTech acquisitions announced in Europe in July 2024

By Gloria Methri

In the first quarter of 2024, the FinTech mergers and acquisitions (M&A) industry in Europe has seen notable activity despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. Deal volumes in the broader EMEA region have decreased by 26% compared to the previous year, but deal values have increased by 9%, reflecting a trend where fewer but larger deals are taking place.

Despite the contraction, firms remain interested in exploring options and are looking forward to potential deals when market conditions improve. The FinTech sector specifically is leveraging acquisitions to enhance technological capabilities, expand market presence, and meet the evolving demands of customers.

Let’s look at five such FinTech acquisitions announced this month:

• Ant International acquires MultiSafepay

Ant International has acquired Amsterdam-based payment service provider MultiSafepay and integrated it into its Antom division, a payment and digitisation services provider. The acquisition aims to enhance payment solutions and digital services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.

MultiSafepay now serves merchants with omnichannel payment services that connect over 40 international payment methods, including cards, e-wallets, Buy-Now, Pay-Laters, internet banking, and more.

• NatWest acquires Metro Bank’s mortgage portfolio

NatWest Group has signed an agreement with Metro Bank to acquire a £2.5 billion portfolio of prime UK residential mortgages, with a weighted average current loan-to-value of c.62%. On completion of the transaction, NatWest Group expects to welcome around 10,000 customer accounts, which will continue to be serviced by Metro Bank following the transfer to NatWest Group.

• ThetaRay acquires Screena

ThetaRay has acquired European screening company Screena to embolden its mission of enabling banks, FinTechs, and regulators to detect financial crime with state-of-the-art AI solutions. This strategic acquisition formalizes Screena’s cloud-based AI-driven screening solution as part of ThetaRay’s product suite, providing financial institutions with a holistic view of transactional and customer screening risks.

• UniCredit acquires Vodeno and Aion Bank

UniCredit has signed a €370 million agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Vodeno and Aion Bank. The companies combine an innovative, scalable, and flexible cloud-based platform with banking services based on Aion’s ECB licence to enable end-to-end Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) for both financial and non-financial companies across Europe.

Aion/Vodeno can embed financial solutions, including accounts, deposits, lending and payment propositions, directly into the customer journeys of retailers, e-commerce marketplaces, FinTechs, financial technology providers and banks.

• Wolters Kluwer acquires accountancy portfolio

Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting (TAA) is set to acquire Belgian FinTech Isabel Group’s accountancy portfolio of cloud-based financial workflow and data exchange solutions for €325 million in cash. This portfolio complements Wolters Kluwer’s existing European tax and accounting solutions and enables it to provide end-to-end coverage of accountants’ workflow from pre-accounting to post-accounting. More than 130 FTEs based in Belgium and France will join Wolters Kluwer TAA Europe, which spans 10 European countries.