Backers of UK fintech Nutmeg are in line for a windfall after JP Morgan agreed yesterday to buy the robo-adviser start-up for £700mln.
The US megabank is said to want Nutmeg to spearhead a big push into the UK financial services sector when it kicks off with the launch of its new digital bank Chase later this year.
JP Morgan’s purchase also means big gains for 2,100 customers who backed a crowdfunding round two years ago.
That was priced at £12.82 per share but the US bank is paying two and half times that at around £30-32 per share.
Nutmeg was launched in 2021 and now has 140,00 customers and £3.5bn in funds under management.
Its platform already allows customers to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are run by JP Morgan's asset management arm and Nutmeg customers will be unaffected by the takeover at least in the early stages, said the bank.
JP Morgan is trying to replicate the success of rival Goldman Sachs' UK retail digital bank Marcus, which temporarily had to stop taking on customers last year as it had so many and was in danger of a breach of UK ring-fencing rules.
Goldman is also a beneficiary of the JP Morgan deal as it holds a 10% stake in Nutmeg, with start-up backer Balderton Capital another major shareholder.