Ripplewood in exclusive negotiations to buy Fidor Bank from BPCE

Closing of the proposed transaction is expected in H1 2021 and remains subject to the approval of BPCE employee representative bodies.

French publication L'Agefi reported in October 2018 that BPCE had mandated Clipperton and Messier Maris to manage the sale process for Fidor, which it considered a non-core asset. The report said that the bank generates losses of €15-25m but could be valued at up to €300m. The report added that BPCE had invested €230m in the business since its acquisition of the bank from its VC backers in July 2016.

According to press reports, talks with potential buyer Oldenburgische Landesbank, which is backed by Apollo, ended in October 2019 with the parties failing to reach an agreement.

Previous funding
In August 2013, JZ Capital Partners invested $18.4m in Fidor 2010. In November 2010, Life.Sreda also backed the online banking platform. In September 2013, Life.Sreda invested €7.75m to acquire 25.2% of Fidor Bank.

Company
Digital banking platform Fidor Bank was founded in 2009 and has both B2C and B2B operations. It had 230,000 customers in 2018 and is licensed in Germany, having closed its UK-based operations in 2019. It has 147 employees, according to LinkedIn. According to its financial statement for 2018, it reported negative EBIT of €41.7m and expected an annual result in 2019 of -€50.3m.

People
BPCE – Laurent Mignon (chairman).
Fidor Bank – Boris Joseph (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Clipperton (M&A); Messier Maris (M&A).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
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• Germany