Crédit Mutuel Arkéa

Overview

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa (“Arkéa”), a French banking group, acquires upfront an 86% stake in Leetchi Group (from existing shareholders including 360 Capital Partners, Kima Ventures and Idinvest Partners), with a remaining 14% stake being retained by the management team, which will continue to lead and develop the business.

Financial terms were not officially disclosed but press reported a transaction of more than 50M€. Arkéa is also investing an additional 10M€ of growth capital in the business, so as to fund its international development.

Significance

The acquisition will broaden Arkéa’s product offering in payments and personal financial services, as well as consolidate its position as a leading French player in digital finance.

Arkéa is a French mutual banking group encompassing Crédit Mutuel Bretagne, Crédit Mutuel du Sud-Ouest, Crédit Mutuel Massif Central and 20 specialized subsidiaries. With 3.2 million customer shareholders and clients and €94 bn in total assets, it is a leading player in banking and insurance. With a strong presence in France and Belgium, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa serves customers in 26 countries. Since 2008, it has developed a portfolio of rapidly growing B2B activities, including Arkéa Banking Services (a specialist in white label banking services), ProCapital Securities Services (a securities services provider), and Monext, a leader in electronic payments.

Founded in 2009 by Céline Lazorthes, the Leetchi Group is a European online payments specialist consisting of online “money pot” company Leetchi.com and MangoPay, a payment solution provider targeting sharing economy businesses. With more than 4 million customers, Leetchi.com allows users to collect and manage money from a group in a secure and easy way. MangoPay is a payment solution dedicated to marketplaces and crowdfunding platforms with more than 700 customers in 22 countries. The group employs 40 staff based in Paris, London and Luxembourg (where it has an e-money issuer license).

Our Role

NovitasFTCL was sole financial adviser to Crédit Mutuel Arkéa on its acquisition of the Leetchi Group, including Leetchi.com and MangoPay. NovitasFTCL’s involvement was focused on valuation, structuring and negotiation. Total confidentiality was maintained until announcement.