2019-10-07 Berkery Noyes Releases Financial Technology and Information Industry M&A Report For Third Quarter 2019

NEW YORK — October 7, 2019 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its third quarter 2019 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Financial Technology and Information Industry.

The report analyzes M&A activity for the sector during the first three quarters of 2019 and compares it with data covering 2018. This market includes information and technology companies in Capital Markets, Payments, Banking, Insurance, and other related financial services.

Aggregate transaction volume year-to-date improved 14 percent over the first three quarters of 2018. Overall value more than tripled during this timeframe, from $42.5 billion to $151.3 billion. Of note, there have been four deals with disclosed values above $20 billion year-to-date, compared to none in 2018. In terms of valuations, the median revenue multiple increased from 2.9x to 3.3x.

M&A activity in the Capital Markets segment increased seven percent year-to-date over the first three quarters of 2018. Notable Capital Markets transactions in third quarter 2019 included Thomson Reuters and Blackstone’s sale of Refinitiv, a financial data analytics provider, to the London Stock Exchange for $27 billion; Vista Equity Partners’ acquisition of AltaReturn, which provides software for fund accounting, portfolio management, business intelligence, CRM, investor portal and reporting, for $500 million; and Verisk’s announced acquisition of Genscape, a global provider of real-time data and intelligence for commodity and energy markets, for $364 million.

Regarding the industry’s broad-based governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) sector, notable third quarter deals included Moody’s acquisition of UK-based RiskFirst, a financial technology company that offers risk analytic solutions for the asset management and pension fund communities; and Bloomberg’s acquisition of RegTek.Solutions, a provider of global regulatory reporting software solutions.

The number of deals in the Payments segment underwent an 18 percent increase year-to-date over the first three quarters of 2018. Notable Payments transactions during the third quarter included Mastercard’s announced acquisitions of the Corporate Services business of Nets Holding A/S for $3.2 billion; and Transactis, a digital bill-pay platform.

Meanwhile, there was a 27 percent increase in the Banking segment year-to-date over the first three quarters of 2018. Notable Banking transactions in the third quarter included Temenos’ announced acquisition of Kony, a provider of digital banking software, for $559 million; and Fox Corp.’s announced acquisition of Credible Labs, a marketplace for consumer-lending information that helps consumers shop for loans for mortgages and schools from financial institutions, for $265 million.

A copy of the FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR THIRD QUARTER 2019 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.