Dear Clients and Friends,
We are pleased to share our latest report on m&a values and trends in the Payments Technology sector.
Building on our previous reports focused around B2B payments, in this edition we reflect on how transaction activity across the payments eco-system (YTD 2021) has been the highest we have seen in a few years, largely driven by trends around:
- Digitization and Automation being top of mind for firms as they look to lower costs, processing times, and errors, while meaningfully increasing ROI
- B2B payment platforms are offering more vertically integrated solutions, with Expense and Spend Management becoming the next frontier
- Increased focus on capturing data to abate fraud and optimize decision-making
In our previous reports, we focused on how the B2B payments landscape is ripe for rapid digitization and automation and that COVID shutdowns accelerated a process that was already well underway. We also focused on the permanent shift to online/digital and how it is accelerating trends around speed and transparency, increased partnerships between banks and payment tech companies, and SMEs increasingly seeking more efficient B2B cross border payment solutions.
All of this has led to companies evolving, innovating, and adapting. Acquirers and investors have noticed. That is where we come in. As you also will see in this report, market values for publicly traded firms have continued to remain robust and transaction activity continues to occur at a rapid pace.
Marlin & Associates is one of the most active investment banking and strategic advisory firms, providing trusted counsel to middle market companies worldwide that offer enterprise and vertical application software, services, data and analytics including firms across the FinTech ecosystem (Payments, Real Estate Tech, Payments, BankTech, WealthTech, InsurTech, LegalTech, GRC, Capital Markets Tech, Digital Tech, Business Intelligence, and Market Intelligence). Over the course of 19+ years Marlin & Associates has advised more than 200 fintech, data and analytic companies on m&a transactions in 27 countries. We enjoy helping CEOs and their shareholders achieve their most important strategic objectives.
Please reach out to me (amerchant@marlinllc.com) with any questions or to discuss this in further detail. We are keen to hear from you and happy to share what we are witnessing in the markets and how that could relate to your company.
Kind regards,
Aalap