It is almost as if Nissan bought Boursorama. The manufacturer car chinese Geely, the owner of the Swedish brand Volvo and the manufacturer of black cabs in london, will take control of the online broker Danish Saxo Bank. The chinese group had entered the capital in may last year to the tune of 30% : it rises up to 51.5%, and thus becomes the majority shareholder, alongside the insurer Finnish Sampo, that precise acquire 19.9% to € 265 million. They bought the interests of the american investment fund TPG Capital and conglomerate, indonesian Sinar Mas, that are outside the capital.
The deal values the online bank around € 1.3 billion, a level lower than the entry price of TPG in 2011, which had hoped an ipo in the next five to six years.
The co-founder and ceo of Saxo Bank, Kim Fournais, retains its 25,71%.
“With Geely, we assure Saxo a strong position in the key growth markets in Asia, particularly in China. Sampo Group has a long and impressive history in the financial services, Saxo Bank will be able to benefit greatly, ” he argued in a press release.
Unicorn Danish Fintech
Founded 25 years ago, Saxo Bank, which employs 1,500 people, is profitable, with a net profit of 30.8 million euros in the first half (+45%), for a net banking income of 209.1 million euros (+7%). The outstanding amount of its clients reach 13.2 billion euros. “The group has been one of the pioneers of online trading and is positioned, over the years, as the industry leader with an offer Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). Saxo was actually a Fintech long before the term was created , “observed the last month its CEO.
Why the chinese group spends there 300 million euros in finance online ? Of course, almost all manufacturers have their own “captive” auto finance, often in co-venture with a bank. Gold Saxo Bank specialises in online trading.
“Saxo Bank is an actor extremely important for many partners investment of Geely in China,” explains the financial director of the group Geely, Daniel Donghui Li, in a joint press release. “At Geely Group, we believe that technology and the value proposition of Saxo Bank may be deployed with success in all of Asia, that is why we are determined to invest more in the Saxo Bank group. Over the last decade, Saxo Bank has built a solid reputation in the world of technology finance (Fintech) and the management of regulatory constraints (RegTech). “
For its part, the insurer in finland, which has sold its own banking business to Danske Bank a decade ago but is the largest shareholder in Nordea Bank, sees another potential broker’s Danish, on the market BtoB (business-to-business) :
“Saxo Bank is a unicorn exceptionally interesting in the sphere of Fintech in the nordic countries and Sampo is delighted to be part of its overall development,” says the CEO of Sampo, Kari Stadigh.
“Saxo provides a trading platform that is unique, according to us, is the best on the market and offers a huge potential global to develop partnerships white label with financial institutions, investors and family offices. “
The group Geely is not the only conglomerate chinese interest in a european financial institution. Last month, Legend Holdings, the owner of the computer manufacturer Lenovo, has acquired 90% of the Banque internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) to 1.48 billion euros.
