FCA approves FairFX’s acquisition of CardOne
The £15 million deal got the regulatory consent of the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
International payment services provider Fairfx Group PLC (LON:FFX) has gotten the approval of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the acquisition of CardOne, a company that has been providing banking platforms and money management tools since 2007.
In a filing with the London Stock Exchange earlier today, FairFX confirmed that it had obtained the regulatory consent. The company added that the acquisition, initially announced on August 8, 2017, remains conditional on, inter alia, the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting to be held later today.
The acquisition agreement provides for FairFX to acquire the entire issued share capital of CardOne for a maximum consideration of £15 million on a debt free/cash free basis. The consideration can be satisfied in cash or Consideration Shares at each seller’s election.
CardOne provides current accounts and a digital banking platform to personal account customers and to SMEs. FairFX’s directors believe that CardOne is one of very few providers that have a combination of regulatory compliance, technology stack and payment scheme memberships required to produce digital banking. The CardOne Group’s products and services are complemented by desktop, mobile and app account management platforms.
The Directors believe that the Acquisition of CardOne will allow FairFX to leverage CardOne Group’s infrastructure and technical capability with the aim of significantly shortening FairFX’s planned roll out of a SME business banking product, as well as growing CardOne’s own offering.
The acquisition is poised to be earnings enhancing in the first full year following its completion, with cost savings and synergies of an estimated £3.5 million over 3 years. The directors intend that cost savings and synergies are to be derived from rationalisation of back office functions, as well as simplification of the supply chain within the Enlarged Group. In addition, further opportunities are expected to be derived from cross selling of products between CardOne and FairFX’s respective customers and services.
FairFX expects to retain CardOne’s existing management, as well as its brand.
