Summing Up the 10 Biggest Fintech Deals of 2015

Summing Up the 10 Biggest Fintech Deals of 2015

How hot is fintech right now?

This one statistic sums it up: in 2015, a record amount of fintech deals were done for a total deal value of $24.6 billion. That number is higher than the last five years put together.

With everything seemingly turning up “fintech”, here is a summary and some reflection on the 10 biggest fintech deals of last year.

Summing Up the Biggest Fintech Deals of 2015

1. FIS acquires SunGard for $9.1 billion

The acquisition, financed with a mix of 45 percent cash and 55 percent stock, yields a combined company with $9.2 billion in annual revenue, 55,000 employees, and operations in more than 130 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is the world’s largest global provider dedicated to banking and payments technologies. Their technology underscores $9 trillion in global transactions each year.

SunGard, which was the target of the acquisition, was previously taken over in 2005 by a consortium of private equity firms in the largest tech privatization deal ever. It was valued at $11.3 billion.

2. ICE acquires Interactive Data Corp

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) bought Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) from private equity firms Silver Lake Group LLC and Warburg Pincus LLC. Valued at $5.2 billion, including $3.65 billion in cash and $1.55 billion in stock, the deal allows ICE to expand the markets it serves while bringing in new technology platforms and data services.

ICE owns and operates 23 exchanges and marketplaces, with the most famous of these being the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

3. McGraw-Hill Financial acquires SNL Financial

McGraw-Hill Financial, the parent of the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency, paid $2.23 billion in cash to buy SNL Financial from private equity firm New Mountain Capital.

McGraw-Hill is also known for some of its other subsidiaries, such as S&P Dow Jones Indices and Platts.

4. D+H Corporation buys Fundtech

D+H, a Canadian corporation which was historically a manufacturer of cheques, has recently shifted its focus on more technology-related endeavors. Part of this includes buying global payment services provider Fundtech for $1.25 billion in cash.

In a recent press release, D+H described the transaction as a key piece in their transition to technology: “The Fundtech acquisition significantly advanced D+H in our FinTech journey and was evidence of our commitment to continue providing clients the innovative solutions they need to grow and compete.”

5. Lufax is funded by multiple investors

Lufax, also known as the Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange Co., is an online Internet finance marketplace in China. Focusing on peer-to-peer loans, Lufax connects individual investors with borrowers for loans of around $10,000 while collecting a 4% fee off each loan.

Domestic and overseas institutions participated in the most recent $1.2 billion financing in December, including the investment arm of COFCO Group and Guotai Junan (Hong Kong). The company is considered a mover and shaker in the Chinese lending space, and is now valued at $18.5 billion.

6. Lufax is funded by multiple investors

Lufax was also responsible for the sixth biggest deal of 2015, as it did an earlier raise in March 2015 for $488 million from a group of investors at a valuation of nearly $10 billion.

7. Markit

Markit, which recently announced a merger with IHS to create a data heavyweight, was also very active last year.

In 2015, it initiated a secondary public offering of its common shares to investors worth $350 million.

8. Learnvest acquired by Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual went all-in on personalized financial planning by buying New York-based startup LearnVest for over $250 million.

9. Neustar acquires TNS

Real-time information services provider Neustar bought caller authentication assets from Transaction Network Services (TNS), an affiliate of Siris Capital Group, for $220 million in cash.

10. Markit buys CoreOne

Earlier in 2015, market data company Markit bought CoreOne Technologies, a global leading provider of regulatory reporting for $200 million.

Original graphic by: Raconteur