Context
Founded in 2010, Linxo is the French market leader in bank data aggregation, personal finance solutions and payment initiation. The fintech player provides API (Application Program Interface) and complete white label (made by one company and re-used and rebranded by another) apps for banking and insurance start-ups.
As competition has significantly improved over the past few months with notable moves and M&A activity in the industry, aggregators have to invest massively to fuel growth, accelerate BtoB and BtoC customers acquisition and offer new services. Benefiting from the support of a leading European banking institution is a major differentiation aspect.
Groupe Crédit Agricole had solid ties with the fintech for being a minority shareholder through FIRECA (Fonds d’Investissement et de REcherche du Crédit Agricole). Convinced by Linxo’s high potential, Crédit Agricole offered other shareholders to buy their stake through its subsidiary Crédit Agricole Payment Services (CAPS) after having retained Bryan, Garnier & Co as its Sole Financial Advisor.
Since its incorporation, Linxo raised over €23m from business angels and institutional investors such as MAIF Avenir, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and FIRECA.
When the transaction is complete, Groupe Crédit Agricole Group will own more than 85% of Linxo Group through CAPS and FIRECA with the remaining shares in the hands of management. The transaction is pending authorization from the French Prudential Supervisory and Resolution Authority (ACPR).
With the support of Crédit Agricole, Linxo Group will have the backing of a top European banking group and a leader in France, which will enable it to continue its growth and step up its development in the banking sector. This acquisition will enable Crédit Agricole to consolidate its leading position in digital payment services.
About Linxo
Founded in 2010, Linxo Group develops and markets account aggregation, payment initiation and personal finance management solutions.
The platform of its subsidiary, Oxlin – an ACPR-authorised payment institution – provides all the technologies needed to access bank data and initiate payments, with the agreement of the customer and in a fully secure manner. It provides API (Application Program Interface) “bricks” and complete white label apps for start-ups across the banking and insurance industries. These solutions enable new services and new sources of revenue to be developed for a range of use cases: budget management, loan application processing, accounting, customer retention, etc.
Its Linxo mobile app, which has more than 3 million users in France, is a smart personal finance assistant that provides an overview of an individual’s finances and simplifies budgeting.
The company has 81 employees, based mainly in Aix en Provence and the Crédit Agricole Villages in Paris and Sophia Antipolis.
About Crédit Agricole Payment Services
Crédit Agricole Payment Services (CAPS) is the Crédit Agricole Group’s payment services arm, with expertise in marketing, innovation, and interbank processing and representation. With a market share of close to 30%, CAPS is the leading payment services player in France, processing more than 11 billion transactions per year (cards, transfers, withdrawals and cheques – both issued and received).
The provision of payment services is a key activity for the Group’s banks. It is central to the customer relationship and presents significant challenges in terms of commercial, financial and tech activities. Crédit Agricole Payment Services aim is to develop innovative services, combining ease of use and security. With Crédit Agricole Payment Services, the Crédit Agricole Group is making payments a key driver of customer retention and acquisition.
Deal Team
Should you want to know more about this transaction, you can contact one of the team members above
Bryan, Garnier & Co acts as Sole Financial Advisor to Groupe Crédit Agricole on its acquisition of Linxo Group
Bryan, Garnier & Co acted as Sole Financial Advisor to CAPS.
Bryan, Garnier & Co assisted CAPS in approaching the target, coordinating and organizing due diligence efforts, providing sector and process intelligence and negotiating the transaction with the shareholders of Linxo Group.
This marks the growing footprint of Bryan, Garnier & Co’s Financial Services Practice notably after advising the acquisition of leading independent debt collection specialist Recocash by IK Investment Partners and sale of the life-insurance policies management platform Quality Insurance Services (QIS) to CNP Assurances.
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