Our November 2016 Fintech Market Report is our latest update on the m&a values and trends in the dozen+ sectors of the financial technology industry that we follow and sometimes lead. Read more here.
We’re issuing this market update the day before the election for the US President. It is an interesting time. Recently someone asked me if I am concerned about the impact of this election on fintech m&a. My answer has two parts: First, I’m worried about a lot more than fintech m&a. The next leader of the free world will face daunting challenges. The second element I’m worried about is the impact that the policies of the newly elected US leader could have on our business, to the extent that these could, potentially, lead to an economic slowdown. And if that happens, the impact could be massive.
Fintech is in the midst of a profound revolution. And it is just getting started. There are too many new and exciting trends to list but they include cloud technology, software as a service, platforms as a service, blockchains, robotics, artificial intelligence, smart analytics, crypto currencies, and the pervasiveness of the Internet of Things. These all provide fertile ground for creative minds to come up with innovative solutions to real problems. The largest impact that these trends have had is that there has been an increase in unsecured lending of relatively small amounts to individuals through alternative payment and lending platforms. There has been a tremendous amount of buzz around this phenomenon. But, if you add up all the alternative providers in this space they provide less than 1% of all unsecured consumer loans.
The opportunity for this revolution to continue and expand is enormous in this sector -and we haven’t even talked about the many other retail and business sectors, or the opportunity for infrastructure providers to leverage these new approaches. But revolution requires more than technology. It requires entrepreneurs, executives, investors and customers being willing to take risks. And as we have seen many times before, in spite of brave words to the contrary, if the economy falters, a lot of risk taking comes to a screeching halt.
So, we’re praying that whoever wins this election finds a way to bring the country together, steers a course that all sides can take pride in –one that is welcoming to all who would contribute and lifts the underserved without demonizing those who have had successes; and one that can forge compromise to keep this country safe, strong and growing morally, militarily and economically. As long as that happens, we’ll all feel better about ourselves, the future, and the fintech revolution.
A few of the most notable deals include:
• TD Ameritrade (Nasdaq:AMTD) acquired Scottrade Financial Services for $2.8bn and TD Bank (TSX:TD) agreed to acquire Scottrade Bank for $1.3bn,
• Cardtronics (Nasdaq:CATM) acquired DirectCash Payments for $460mm,
• Morningstar (NasdaqGS:MORN) acquired the remaining 80% of PitchBook Data for $180mm, implying an enterprise value of $225mm,
• Singapore Exchange (SGX:S68) acquired The Baltic Exchange for $114mm,
• Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) acquired the technology assets of Inveshare for $135mm,
• Broadridge (NYSE:BR) acquired M&O Systems for an undisclosed sum. Marlin & Associates acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to M&O Systems.
For our full M&A November 2016 Fintech Market Update, please click here.
