Majority Stake in UK Fintech Ebury Bought by Santander

Christopher Zenios11/11/20192min
Spain’s biggest bank Santander has bought a majority stake from UK fintech Ebury for £350m ($453 million) the purchase comes as the bank wishes to win more business from small companies that trade internationally.

Santander 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

Christopher Zenios

Christopher has always been a pioneer, a first adopter when it comes to technological advancements. Over the years, his expertise surrounded the real estate and digital markets and their evolution in today's society. After being the editor to various professional business news portals and blogs, he was selected to become the chief editor for HWC. Contact Christopher at +357-22029786 ext: 6110 or by email at [email protected] for editorial related questions.



About us

High Worth Citizen is all about delivering the latest business news on finance, investment, real estate and wealth. Our readers are the rich and powerful, their associates and business partners, the global High Net Worth Individuals.


CONTACT US