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Groundhog Day – All Over Again, Our February Report on M&A in the FinTech, Data and Analytics Industry

Feb 4, 2021

Groundhog Day – All Over Again, Our February Report on M&A in the FinTech, Data and Analytics Industry

Fintech, Market Update, Newsletter 0 Comments

Dear Clients and Friends:

It’s a new year and our latest report on M&A values among mid-sized FinTech, Data and Analytics companies is here. It feels like Groundhog Day all over again.

It is Groundhog Day in the US as I write this – a day that brings to mind the 1993 Bill Murray / Harold Ramis movie in which, on Groundhog Day, a cynical television weatherman is trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive the same day repeatedly. It’s a comedy – and an allegory with deep philosophical meaning to some. Groundhog Day, the movie, started slow but eventually came to be seen as one of the best comedic movies of the decade. And yet it wasn’t all funny.

Like the movie, 2020 had a rocky start, m&a certainly paused. It certainly wasn’t all funny. But there were some comic moments: (Elon Musk accidentally tanking Tesla’s stock price; Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin as themselves in Tiger King; Rudy Giuliani as himself in the Borat movie; Stephen Colbert’s impersonation of Bernie Sanders; Kimberly Guilfoyle; Gwyneth’s candles; and Rudy’s streaming hair dye.) Perhaps of more relevance, m&a came storming back.

So far, each day in 2021 is shaping up to be a repeat of the previous one. And that’s good for our business. We may long to be back in our offices, meeting with clients and prospects in person, rather than via Zoom, but multiples, valuations and volume among mid-sized Fintech, Data and Analytics firms are back up to where they were Pre-COVID and about the same as the latter half of 2020. Strategic and financial acquirers are on the hunt – even as social distancing, remote working, travel restrictions and Zoom calls continue to be de rigueur. Politicians may still be fighting, Rudy may still be on Fox News, and we all may long to go to restaurants, movie theaters, baseball games, and travel, but we keep finding creative approaches to serving clients; helping smart companies take advantage of the moment to buy, sell or raise capital. As you will see in our latest report, m&a values among the mid-sized FinTech, Data and Analytics companies are staying strong.

Each day we see more opportunities to help CEOs, Boards, and shareholders reach their strategic and financial objectives. Each day it’s Groundhog Day all over again. And that’s not always a bad thing. A few of the more interesting recent transactions over the past month include:

  • The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has completed its acquisition Refinitiv for $27bn (Securities Exchanges)
  • SoFi will merge with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp., a SPAC. The merger values SoFi at $8.65bn (Bank Tech)
  • NCR offered to buy Cardtronics for more than $1.7bn in a $39-per-share all-cash deal (Payments Tech)
  • IG Group Holdings announced the proposed acquisition of tastytrade for $1bn (Capital Markets)
  • Equifax is to acquire digital fraud prevention network Kount for $640mn (Regulatory Tech)
  • Blend announced it closed $300mn in Series G funding led by Coatue and Tiger Global (Real Estate Tech)

Stay safe,

Ken

Ken Marlin

Ken Marlin

Ken Marlin is Managing Partner and Founder of Marlin & Associates and the author of "The Marine Corps Way to Win on Wall Street: 11 Key Principles from Battlefield to Boardroom" (St. Martin's Press 2016).

Over the course of more than 30 years Ken has advised scores of U.S. and international middle-market technology enabled firms on the best ways to buy, sell, grow and thrive. Along the way, he's been an entrepreneur (three times), a tech company CEO (twice), a senior corporate executive (twice) and an investment banker.

Seventeen years ago, Ken embarked on a journey to create a different sort of investment bank - one that would meld the investment banking skills he learned over 20 years on Wall Street with lessons he learned as a tech entrepreneur and the principles he learned during the decade he spent on active duty as a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer. Today, Marlin & Associates is one of the most active M&A advisers in the information technology arena.

Institutional Investor Magazine has five times named Ken as one of II’s “Tech 50” and the II “FinTech 35” - both of which honor the most influential figures in the financial technology data and analytics sector.

Outside the office, Ken is a trustee of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club, which serves underprivileged kids throughout the five counties of New York City; and an active supporter of the Phoenix House Foundation, The Wall Street Warriors Foundation, The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, University of the People, the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, and Outward Bound Peacekeeping.

Ken’s book has garnered strong reviews and is consistently ranked among the top in governance, finance and leadership. One reviewer called it a compelling vision to improve Wall Street by returning to solid core values like taking the long view, behaving with honor, delivering excellence and working for a cause greater than money.

Ken earned a BA from the University of California (Irvine), an MBA from UCLA, and a post-MBA Advanced Professional Certificate in Corporate Strategy from New York University. He lives in New York City with his wife, daughter, a dog, a cat and turtle.

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