Rapyd to acquire Iceland-based Valitor from Arion Bank for $100 mn

By Megha Bhattacharya

Rapyd, a global FinTech as a Service company, has entered into a definitive agreement with Arion Banki (Arion Bank) to acquire Valitor, an Icelandic payments solutions company. The deal size is $100 million and subject to regulatory approval. With its strong European presence, the acquisition of Valitor will empower customers from any industry to streamline integration of omnichannel payments, expand into new markets, flatten FX fees, unlocking revenue and growth potential that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.

“Businesses are looking beyond their borders to scale up and expand their customer base, and they need the right payment providers that can make it happen quickly. With the acquisition of Valitor, customers across Europe will now have access to a greater and more diverse set of payment offerings, ensuring that more companies can take advantage of any opportunity they wish to pursue,” said Arik Shtilman, Rapyd co-founder and CEO.

“Iceland has long distinguished itself as a cashless nation and an innovation hub, with extraordinary levels of talent and a developed payments ecosystem. We plan to continue to grow and invest in Iceland, making it our European Hub, and will support local merchants while increasing our reach across Europe so that we can provide payment solutions to any business committed to pursuing global success.”

Valitor is a payments brand, providing both in-store and online payments acceptance solutions as well as card issuing to SMB merchants in Iceland, the U.K. and Ireland, and across Europe. The acquisition of Valitor will complement Rapyd’s existing payment capabilities throughout Europe, as well as enhance its issuing portfolio.

By leveraging Rapyd’s Collect, Disburse, Wallet, and Issuing capabilities, Valitor businesses and merchants can expand into a broad set of new use cases and services and quickly enter new markets.

Benedikt Gislason, Arion Bank’s CEO commented on the announced transaction: “It has been our long-stated intention to find a new and more appropriate home for Valitor. In Rapyd, we have found exactly that. A highly strategic partner, at the forefront of technological innovation and with complementary strengths to those of Valitor. I would like to thank our Valitor colleagues for their co-operation and wish them best of luck on their new adventures as part of the Rapyd Group.”

“Today’s announcement marks a landmark moment in Valitor’s long history. This is a game-changing transaction for the Icelandic payments market. The Valitor management team is excited about the future prospects and very much look forward to closely working with Arik and the broader Rapyd team on the integration of the two businesses”, added Herdís Fjeldsted, Valitor’s CEO.