Credit broker Smava takes over competitor Finanzcheck

Merger in the fintech industry: consumer credit portal Smava wants to take over its competitor Finanzcheck. This will create a leading provider for brokering loans via the Internet, Smava announced in Berlin on Friday. The seller of Finanzcheck - not to be confused with Check24 - is the financial investor Hellman & Friedman. Smava did not provide details of the purchase price - according to financial circles, it amounts to around 200 million euros. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter.

 

Hellman & Friedman will receive a minority stake in Smava as part of the acquisition. Finanzcheck and Smava reportedly brokered a total of more than 4 billion euros in loans last year - with Smava accounting for around 65 percent. According to the report, the two companies have grown recently and expanded their market shares. Finanzcheck was founded in Hamburg in 2011 and has already changed hands twice in the past almost three years.

 

The consumer credit market is shifting increasingly quickly to the Internet," the statement said. Despite the growth of loans brokered via the Internet, the majority of deals were still done in bank branches, according to experts. However, this could change significantly in the coming years.