Alantra advises Marlin Equity Partners on the acquisition of a majority stake in IbanFirst
SECTORTechnology
ServiceM&A
Value €200 million
Paris, 27 May 2021 – Alantra, the global investment banking and asset management specialist, has advised the American investment fund, Marlin Equity Partners, on the acquisition of majority a stake in the FinTech company, iBanFirst. Marlin Equity Partners has become the main shareholder of iBanFirst, alongside the company’s management and some of its historical investors, Elaia, Bpifrance Large Venture, and Xavier Niel.
Founded in Paris in 2013 by Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, iBanFirst has become a key player in the global banking industry, leveraging on the current momentum of FinTechs. The company offers international payment solutions via a cloud platform optimized for its customers’ needs. By offering an alternative to traditional bank offerings, iBanFirst meets the day-to-day operational needs of small and medium-sized businesses, which can pay and receive payments in any currency with a very simple and fast process. IBanFirst currently has a transaction volume of over €2 billion per month.
The company has more than 250 employees and serves more than 4,000 customers throughout Europe. It doubles its turnover every year.
Marlin Equity Partners’ investment in iBanFirst will provide the company with a major shareholder that will support its product development and its international expansion.
Marlin Equity Partners, headquartered in California, has over €7 billion under management with a focus on the technology sector. The fund opened its Paris office in September 2020 under the leadership of Jeremy Nakache.
The nearly €200 million transaction, which is a hybrid between venture capital and private equity, strengthens Alantra’s track record in the field of FinTech in general and payment platforms in particular. It also demonstrates Alantra’s agility in a market where there’s a need to be proactive: this majority stake deal comes just months after iBanFirst’s previous fundraising in the summer of 2020.
“We are proud to have supported this growth equity transaction, in which the American fund Marlin becomes iBanFirst’s largest shareholder, providing it with the means to achieve its ambitions over the long term, both in terms of organic development growth and external growth. The lines between VC and PE are becoming increasingly blurred and Alantra’s tech team is increasingly active in growth equity transactions involving hyper-growth companies,” commented Oriane Durvye, Partner at Alantra.
The closing of the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals.
