Inflexion and Informa combine FBX, Novantas

The combined companies have an enterprise value of $500m.

The new business will combine the brands and operations of FBX and Novantas, focusing on the provision of retail banking intelligence, data and software. The combination aims to offer a broader range of services to customers from a strengthened market position.

Informa said in its 2020 full-year results statement, issued earlier in April 2021, that the combination would involve no cash contribution from Informa, meaning that it would expect the deal to be credit-neutral.

Informa will hold a majority stake in the new group, while Inflexion and Novantas will reinvest to hold minority stakes.

Inflexion is deploying equity via Inflexion Partnership Capital II, which makes minority investments, deploying equity tickets of £10-200m. The fund held a final close in May 2018 on £1bn, exceeding its £700m target. It backs companies that are aiming to implement digitalisation, internationalisation and acquisitive strategies, as well as businesses that require operational and commercial improvements.

PE-owned competitors in the financial data provision sector include UK-based Finastra, which is backed by Vista Equity Partners and was formed via the acquisition of Misys in 2012 and subsequently combined with Vista portfolio company Turaz. The group became Finastra following the acquisition of Canada-based S+H in June 2017.

Company
Novantas was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York. The company provides data for financial institutions such as cross-bank data, predictive scoring and advanced analytics. Its products aim to enhance both customer relationships and digitalisation, as well as to allow banks to optimise their rate pricing and create new and more profitable products. Novantas has expanded via acquisitions in recent years, the most recent of which was Chicago-based bank and corporate treasury consultancy Treasury Strategies

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Boston, FBX provides quantitative and qualitative competitive intelligence for retail banks, aiming to support the performance of their portfolios. According to its latest financial statements, FBX's parent company Informa generated revenues of £1.66bn and adjusted EBITDA of £367.3m in 2020, compared with revenues of £2.89bn and adjusted EBITDA of £1.034bn in 2019.

People
Infexion – Irina Hemmers (partner); Sergio Ferrarini (investment director); Andreas Constantinides (assistant director); Sam McPhail (investment executive).
Informa – Alex Roth (director of strategy and business planning).
Informa Financial intelligence – Craig Woodward (president).

Advisers
Equity (Informa) – Baker McKenzie (legal); Houlihan Lokey (corporate finance, debt advisory).
Equity (Inflexion) – PwC (tax, financial due diligence, commercial due diligence).
Company (Novantas) – Marlin & Associates (corporate finance); Deloitte (financial due diligence).
Company (Financial Benchmarking & Omnichannel Experience) – Kirkland & Ellis (legal); White & Case (legal); Houlihan Lokey (corporate finance, debt advisory).
Debt – Proskauer (legal).

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