Multicurrency payments services provider FairFX Group Plc (LON:FFX) has snapped up digital business banking firm Q Money – and its associated e-money licence – for £425,000.
FairFX said the deal - which is expected to go through next Tuesday (24 Jan) - opens up “many exciting opportunities” for the business going forward and should help drive future growth.
The e-money licence could help to cut costs by allowing FairFX to internalise parts of the supply chain, something it wouldn’t be able to do without it.
With lower costs and fewer external hoops to jump through, the company believes it can steal a march on the competition and more rapidly grow its product portfolio.
FairFX said the licence also allows the group to build on its popular expense management platform and create a digital banking product for business, diversifying revenues.
“The acquisition of Q Money is an important strategic step for FairFX,” said chief executive Ian Strafford-Taylor.
“The e-money licence will allow us to rationalise our supply chain, thereby reducing costs, but more importantly it widens our horizons in terms of the products and services we can provide to our customers and the speed at which we can deploy them.”
FairFX will pay £110,000 from its existing cash reserves, with the rest being paid for through the issue of 724,136 shares at 43.5p each.
Further consideration of up to £825,000 may also be payable to Q Money over the next three years depending on performance. These add-ons will also be paid for in shares at 43.5p a pop.
As part of the acquisition, Tony Quirke – who previously worked at Kalixa Pay – will become the group’s chief financial officer.
It’s been a good week so far for FairFX after the company announced on Tuesday that revenues were better than expected in 2016.
Shares were up 7% in early deals to 46.4p.
-- Updates for background info and share price --