Fintech payments group focused on the SME marketplace Equals Group plc today announced has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of global payments services provider to the FinTech sector Oonex SA. According to the official announcement, the deal is for total consideration of up to £4.1 million.
Established in 2012, Oonex is a Belgium-based payment institution, licensed and regulated by the National Bank of Belgium to operate within the European Union and European Economic Area (EEA). The firm provides card acquiring services and is a Principal Member of Mastercard. Furthermore, Oonex is a SWIFT and SEPA member and provides direct Payment Accounts (IBANs) from Belgium to companies and individuals worldwide.
The acquisition allows Equals to bring its payments, cards and multi-currency account products to a new suite of customers across Europe. Additionally, the deal brings new card acquiring capabilities into the Group’s portfolio.
Equals stated:
Oonex’s ability to issue local IBANs within the Eurozone will significantly expand the addressable market for the Group’s platform and products and fits with Equals’ strategy to enable its customers to ‘Collect globally, deliver locally, control centrally.’
The latest acquisition complements the completion of Roqqett Limited’s acquisition, earlier in January.
The terms of the deal
The official announcement detailed that Equals Group plc has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital Oonex for a total of up to £4.1 million. This includes the assumption of £3.5 million of net liabilities and expects to provide additional working capital of up to £0.7 million between exchange and Completion.
The acquisition is conditional on the National Bank of Belgium’s approval. The regulator’s decision will be announced by 30 September.
Fabien Boursin, Executive Director and Founder of Oonex, said:
Everyone at Oonex is very excited to be joining the Equals Group. We have worked hard over the last nine years to build up an enviable licensing portfolio and we now look forward to delivering on the opportunity of driving the business forward with the technology, know-how and customer base of the wider Equals group.
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of Equals, said:
We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Oonex which enables us to bring our market leading products to new customers across Europe. We are excited to establish our European headquarters in Belgium and to make use of the investment in technology that we have made over the past few years to rapidly deploy our global platform.
