Equals completes acquisition of Oonex
Equals Group plc (LON:EQLS), a fintech payments group focused on the SME marketplace, today announced that, following its announcement on 27 March 2023 of entering a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Oonex S.A., the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) has confirmed that it had no objections and, as such, the transaction completed on 4 July 2023.
The acquisition of Oonex, together with its regulatory licences and banking relationships, allows Equals to bring its payments, cards, and multi-currency account products to a new suite of customers across Europe. The ability of Oonex to issue local IBANs within the Eurozone will significantly expand the addressable market for the Group’s platform and products and fits with Equals’ strategy to provide the best B2B platform for worldwide money movement.
As stated in the announcement on 27 March 2023, the acquisition consideration is being satisfied by the initial issue of 3,938,294 Ordinary Shares of 1p each in Equals Group plc. Further tranches of 61,706 and up to 1,000,000 Ordinary Shares (subject to conditions) will be issued over the next six months. All Ordinary Shares issued as consideration for the Acquisition will be subject to a lock-in agreement for two years from completion.
The acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive for the Group in the medium term.
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of Equals, said:
“We are delighted that the NBB has confirmed that it had no objections to the change of control for Oonex, so we can now commence growing the business in Brussels as well as integrating it into the Equals technology platform. We see Oonex as a tremendous opportunity for the Group as it allows us to distribute our market leading platform, products, and capabilities to new customers across the Eurozone and we look forward to updating shareholders on its progress in the coming months.”