Christopher ZeniosSantander will own 50.1% of the London based company that deals in foreign exchange, money management and finance trade for small to medium-sized companies.
Executive chairman of Santander, Ana Botin, commented the deal is “very important strategically” for the group, which made building a new global trade platform for businesses a core part of its plan earlier this year.
She added that:
Ebury and [Santander’s] Global Trade Services aims to connect the medium and small companies that are not getting that attention from anybody else.
The company Ebury was founded in 2009 by Juan Lobato and Salvador García. The company reported revenues of £43.7m in the 12 months to April 2018. Compared with profits from the previous year it made a pre-tax loss of £19.1m.
Messrs Lobato and García commented:
Combining a big bank with nimble fintech means we can offer our clients the best of both worlds: they can benefit from our technology and high-quality service safe in the knowledge that they are counterparty to one of the world’s most important financial institutions.
The group operates in 19 countries but with Santander as the primary funder, the company plans to expand into Latin America and Asia. This will be possible as Ebury will continue to operate as a standalone business with its existing team.
The companies stated that they will be “able to leverage Santander’s capabilities, brand and correspondent bank network to establish new bank partnerships,”
Santander said it expected its investment in Ebury to provide a return on invested capital of above 25 per cent in 2024. Under the terms of the deal, Santander will be spending £70m on new shares and a further £280m buying shares from existing Ebury investors.
Image source by Financial News
