LONDON, UK: Alpha Group International plc has entered into a conditional agreement, pending approval by the Dutch Central Bank, to acquire circa 85% of Financial Transaction Services B.V., trading as “Cobase”, a leading multibank connectivity platform.

The initial consideration for the acquisition is €9.4m (£8.0m) in cash, with the remaining stake to be acquired via a performance-based earn-out between 2025 and 2028.

Founded in 2017, Cobase is an innovative, cloud-based provider of bank connectivity technology that enables corporates to manage their banking relationships, accounts, and transaction activity via one single interface. In doing so, the company unlocks significant operational and financial efficiencies, especially for international businesses with multiple banking counterparties across the world.

The company was founded in 2017 by Jorge Schafraad, with initial funding from ING Ventures after the concept was successfully proven in an ING Accelerator program. Currently the company employs a team of c. 30 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Alpha and Cobase’s offerings are highly complementary with one another, and the Board believes there are opportunities to amplify one another’s growth by leveraging and sharing each other’s unique capabilities and experience. Indeed, analysis has shown that 80% of Cobase’s existing client base falls within Alpha’s own target market, highlighting the strong potential for mutual value adds.

Going forward, Cobase will retain its team and continue to operate under its own brand and management whilst its proprietary technology will help to accelerate Alpha’s digital proposition and enable us to become increasingly more integrated with our clients by providing a more holistic treasury service around our core FX risk management proposition.

 Morgan Tillbrook, CEO and founder of Alpha Group, said:

“Whilst we have had plenty of opportunities to make acquisitions and external investments, we have very high expectations for ourselves and our investors.

The fact that after more than six years as a public company and after considering numerous acquisition opportunities, this is our first investment of this kind is ultimately a testament to the company that Cobase have built, and the strength of the alignment the company has with our business. I am delighted to welcome Jorge and his team to Alpha and have been incredibly impressed by the technology they have built.

I am excited by the opportunity to work together to accelerate the growth of both businesses and the strong mutual value it will bring to our client bases. Our strong cash generation has given us the opportunity to acquire this highly synergistic platform, and we will continue to analyse the market and review M&A opportunities within our wider capital allocation strategy.”

Jorge Schafraad, CEO and founder of Cobase, said: “We are delighted to join the Alpha Group as they are a client-driven and innovative company in a field adjacent and closely aligned to ours. They have clearly achieved a leading position in their market and are as such an enviable partner, and we are convinced that this will unlock exciting new opportunities for our customers, partners and team going forward. All services we currently offer will remain in place for our existing and new clients and we look forward to introducing additional features, products and services in the near future.”