Visa (NYSE: V) will be acquiring European Open Banking Fintech Tink for €1.8 billion. The acquisition should help with filling a Plaid-shaped hole in Visa’s existing portfolio after a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the financial data-sharing firm was unsuccessful (following pushback from regulatory authorities).
Tink currently connects to over 3,400 banking institutions that reach more than 250 million bank clients in Europe. Established in 2012 in Stockholm, the firm’s 400 workers serve over 300 banking institutions and Fintech firms in 18 different European markets, out of business offices based in 13 countries. Tink is one of the over 440 third-party providers across Europe that provides open banking services.
Under this new agreement with Visa, Tink will be retaining its company brand and existing management team, and its head offices will still be in Stockholm, Sweden.
Al Kelly, CEO and Chairperson at Visa, stated:
“Visa is committed to doing all we can to foster innovation and empower consumers in support of Europe’s open banking goals. By bringing together Visa’s network of networks and Tink’s open banking capabilities we will deliver increased value to European consumers and businesses with tools to make their financial lives more simple, reliable and secure.”
Daniel Kjellén, CEO and co-founder of Tink, said that for the past ten years they have worked relentlessly to build his company into a leading open banking platform in Europe:
“We have built something incredible and at the same time we have only scratched the surface. Joining Visa, we will be able to move faster and reach further than ever before. Visa is the perfect partner for the next stage of Tink’s journey, and we are incredibly excited about what this will bring to our employees, customers and for the future of financial services.”
The deal is presently subject to regulatory approvals and various other customary closing conditions for this type of transaction.
This new potential transaction marks the second major acquisition of a Swedish Fintech firm by a US-based tech firm, after PayPal’s $2.2 billion purchase of Square competitor iZettle a few years ago.
Dawn Capital, a European venture fund, is listed as one of the investors in Tink and was also an iZettle investor.
John Bell, General Partners at Dawn Capital, remarked:
“With Tink and iZettle, Sweden has now produced two of Europe’s largest ever fintech M&A exits, reflecting the world-class innovation, commercial excellence and entrepreneurial talent we have found across the Nordic market. As the only investor in both companies, we are delighted to have supported their successful journeys to new homes within corporations with global reach, validating the relevance of the B2B tech coming out of Europe. We wish Tink continuing success in the next chapter of its journey.”