SME lender October acquires competitor Credit.fr
European peer-to-peer lending platform October has acquired its competitor Credit.fr.
The deal brings together the largest and second largest business lending platforms in Europe, to create a new entity with a loan book valued at more than €860m (£731.66m).
To date, the two platforms have lent to 3,100 European companies in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.
Credit.fr specialises in providing financing to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France. It has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tikehau Capital since 2017. Tikehau is investing in the new venture.
“In five years, Credit.fr has become the second largest lending platform for French SMEs,” said Henri Marcoux, deputy managing director of Tikehau Capital.
“With its European scope, October is now a leading platform in its market and is a partner of choice to continue the development of Credit.fr. We fully share the strategic vision of its management team and are pleased to support the development of the new entity.”
Since its launch in 2015, Credit.fr has completed more than 900 financings with loans worth more than €115m.
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Through the acquisition, October said it will be able to complete its know-how and enrich its processes to meet the financing needs of SMEs.
October now plans to pursue a growth strategy based on the development of its business lending activity and the sale of its technology to financial institutions with October Connect.
Launched 18 months ago, October Connect already represents 15 per cent of October’s overall turnover.
“The October Connect business will be the focus of most of our investment over the next 24 months,” said Olivier Goy, chairman of the supervisory board of October.
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“We are strengthening our tech, data and product teams, while building a European sales force.”
Following the acquisition, Maxime Gely, president of Credit.fr, will become chief operating officer of October France.
Gely said that the new venture represents an opportunity for Credit.fr’s loyal lenders to have ever more varied investment opportunities.
“Over the past few years, October’s teams have demonstrated their know-how: we are proud to be able to offer our historical users the benefit of such operational excellence,” he added.
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