The seasons are beginning to change across the globe, and this time of change seems to be inspiring investment in the B2B space. This past week was a busy one, with about a dozen deals amounting to well over $1 billion. How much over? We’re not quite sure, considering half of the deals over the last seven days were made for an undisclosed amount.
What we do know is that merger fever struck hot this week, and spread across the globe to eight nations, with a flurry of cross-border deals. Here’s the breakdown:
SaaS: $760M
Alt-Lending: $127.5M+
Enterprise Security: $120M
SME Banking: $113M
eProcurement: Unknown
Logistics: Unknown
Commercial Cards: Unknown
[bctt tweet=”B2B merger fever struck hot this week, and spread across eight nations, with a flurry of cross-border deals.”]
Over the weekend, Carlyle Group made the biggest splash of the week with an investment in U.K.-based Software-as-a-Service firm Innovation for about $760 million. Reports said Saturday (Aug. 29) that the companies announced late Friday that Innovation is looking to have Carlyle help with its international expansion. The software firm provides claim processing services for the insurance industry. It was the single largest deal of the last seven days, but B2B investment was only getting started.
The alternative lending space has seen a bumpy roller coaster of a ride when it comes to investment. Luckily, this week the industry saw the second-largest investment volume of any other, though one deal was reached without a public price tag.
Also over the weekend, Sweden-based mobile payments firm iZettle announced it had closed a $67.5 million investment round, spearheaded by Intel Capital and Zouk Capital, and that it is already putting that financing to good use through the launch of its iZettle Advance SME lending operations. “We have aimed to build a financing service that’s completely tailored to the needs of small businesses,” said Carl-Richard Häggman, iZettle’s Chief Risk Officer. “The service allows for small businesses to make the necessary investments in their operations, on their own terms and with minimal administration.”
Australia-based Prospa secured its own $60 million in new funding from a range of investors, including Carlyle Group, which pumped $50 million into the round. Reports Wednesday (Sept. 2) said the funding allows Prospa to ramp up its operations of online, unsecured SME lending, and market only the third securitization deal in the world’s online lending market. Prospa, which has reportedly facilitated $70 million to small business borrowers over the last four years, said it will use the funding to achieve its goal of hitting $500 million in small business loans over the next few years, according to Prospa joint chief executive Beau Bertoli.
That same day, U.K.-based GLI Finance said it boosted its stake in alternative lending and invoice financing company Platform Black. Reports said GLI Finance took on an additional 12.1 percent of Platform Black shares, boosting its total ownership of the company to 44 percent. The takeover was made for an undisclosed sum. GLI Finance has been gradually boosting its stake in the company since 2013, reports said.
One of the biggest stories of the week came from the U.S. as enterprise security systems provider Tanium revealed that it secured $120 million in new funding from a range of backers, including TPG, Institutional Venture Partners and others. According to Tanium, the fundraising round is the largest completed by a private company so far this year. “As security becomes a top priority for global business leaders, there is tremendous market opportunity for those companies that offer solutions that align with today’s focus on speed, scalability, and cloud-based technologies,” said TPG Partner Bryan Taylor in a statement.
U.K. banking giant Barclays PLC revealed Wednesday (Sept. 2) that in an effort to downsize its operations in certain markets it has reached a deal to sell its Portuguese operations to Spain-based Bankinter for about $113 million, according to Wall Street Journal reports. Barclays is stepping away from less lucrative markets, reports said, but for Bankinter, the acquisition is a chance to expand internationally amid sluggish business at home. The takeover means Bankinter will acquire Barclay’s Portuguese private, commercial and SME corporate banking operations, though the British bank will reportedly maintain its investment and multinational corporate banking units in Portugal.
There were multiple investments in players aiming to facilitate businesses’ accounts payable and accounts receivable operations, however, these players kept their lips sealed about how much, exactly, these deals were worth.
Swedish procure-to-pay firm Palette closed out the month with news Monday (Aug. 31) that it raised new investment funds from Monterro 1, though the companies stayed mum on the price tag. According to reports, Palette has already expanded its eInvoicing and procure-to-pay software across 50 countries; Palette CEO Lars Ola Petters said Monterro 1’s backing will help the company enter “the next stage of its plans to target new markets globally.”
Then, supply chain management service provider HighJump, based in the U.S., crossed the pond on Tuesday (Sept. 1) to acquire U.K.-based B2B omnichannel supply chain enablement firm Wesupply, a move reports said is part of HighJump’s efforts to expand internationally in the market to streamline omnichannel corporate trade services. The takeover, a deal reach for an undisclosed amount, means HighJump will take on Wesupply’s eInvoicing and B2B eCommerce trading platform – and the companies said that it pushes HighJump’s reach to more than 10,000 buyers and suppliers in the global supply chain. “The acquisition of Wesupply empowers the growth initiative of HighJump TrueCommerce with the addition of a true multi-tenant SaaS solution that enables quick onboarding of new trading partners and rapid time-to-value for community members,” the businesses said in their announcement.
Fleet and commercial card firm WEX revealed Tuesday that it struck a deal down in Brazil to acquire payroll card company UNIK S.A., according to reports. WEX said it would take on the remaining 49 percent stake in the Brazilian card company it hadn’t already owned – WEX first acquired part of UNIK in 2012, reports said. Financial details of the transaction were not reported.
On Tuesday, news broke that two India-based B2B logistics firms were entering into a merger deal. Delivery startup Turant Delivery announced it had acquired fellow logistics company Zippon, though reports did not say how much it paid for the firm. According to reports, the takeover is part of Turant’s efforts to expand beyond B2B delivery and logistics services and into the consumer-facing market. At present, the firm offers SMEs a flat rate for delivery services.
And in case you had any doubts about the popularity of India’s logistics startup space at the moment, even more reports emerged Tuesday that food delivery firm Zomato pumped investment into local B2B logistics company Pickingo for an undisclosed sum – a backing made in conjunction with several other investments in other India-based delivery firms.
It was a wild week for B2B investments, but we may never know the true value of deals struck. Regardless, the data available shows a promising start to a new season, with the last seven days enjoying more than $1 billion flowing between enterprise service providers of all kinds – without being limited by national borders.
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