Rapyd Acquires Valitor for US$100 million

M&A of the Week

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Rapyd will be acquiring Valitor at $100 million from Arion Bank. According to Rapyd, Valitor’s acquisition will complement their existing payment capabilities throughout Europe and enhance their issuing portfolio.

Rapyd’s Growth and Expansion

Rapyd is a UK-based business-to-business‘ Fintech as a Service’ (FaaS) platform founded by Arik Shtilman, Arkady Karpman, Omer Priel. The company offers cloud-based technology that supports the integration of payments and fintech services into web and mobile applications.

Rapyd recently obtained $300 million in a Series D financing round led by Coatue which the company will be using to grow its business. The company intends to acquire many more companies in the near future as a part of its expansion plan. Last year, the company acquired Korta, another Icelandic payments-card service company that provides merchants with a range of in-store and digital payment acceptance solutions. The company intends to make Iceland its European hub.

Rapyd Acquires Valitor

Valitor Overview & Financials

Valitor is an Icelandic payments company headquartered in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. It was founded by five banks and thirteen saving banks in 1983 and named ‘Visa Iceland’. The company has thirty-four years of experience in issuing, acquiring, and gateway services to partners and merchants across Europe. It has a strong presence in London (UK) and Copenhagen (Denmark); and mainly provides in-store and online payments acceptance solutions. It also issues cards to small and medium-sized business merchants across Europe (mainly Iceland), UK, and Ireland.

Valitor suffered huge losses in 2019, close to ISK 9.5 billion (US$ 76mn approx.). However, in 2020, the company managed a positive turnaround in operations due to the increase in the use of digital payments and e-commerce platforms. The net loss from regular operations for the year 2020 was ISK 1.5 billion (US$ 12mn approx.). Valitor also downsized its business operations by selling off its omnichannel business in Denmark and related operations in the UK.

The acquisition of Valitor will help Rapyd streamline its payments processes across different channels as Valitor has a strong presence in Europe with global players such as Visa, Mastercard, and AMEX as its partners. Valitor will also benefit from new innovations and product ideas brought in by Rapyd.

Online payments and e-commerce businesses saw significant growth in users due to the globally executed social restrictions. With the growing awareness and usage of digital platforms, digital payments and e-commerce businesses are expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

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