October buys long term rival lender Credit.fr

The fintech M&A boom is heating up.

European fintech lender October has acquired a rival Credit.fr, the second largest lending platform for French SMEs.

No details of the deal’s financials have been made public but as part of the deal Tikehau Capital, the sole shareholder of Credit.fr, is investing fresh cash in the new venture.

Credit.fr has arranged €115m of loans to SMEs since its launch in 2015, spread across 900 companies while October has lent €745m following strong growth last year when it saw originations soar 72 per cent.

Paris-based October operates in a number of countries across Europe including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain where it lends to SMEs using both private and institutional capital.

These include Allianz, Bpifrance, CDC, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, European Investment Fund, Generali, Groupama, ICO, Invest NL, Zencap.

“The expertise of the Credit.fr teams in this area [SME lending] is recognised; we have followed their work with great interest. We are therefore delighted to see our teams merge and strengthen each other,” said Patrick de Nonneville, CEO of October.

As part of the deal Maxime Gely, President of Credit.fr will become chief operating officer of October’s French business.

“This new venture is an opportunity for Credit.fr's loyal lenders to have ever more varied investment opportunities. Over the past few years, October's teams have demonstrated their know-how: we are proud to be able to offer our historical users the benefit of such operational excellence.” 

The company also has a technology platform business October Connect which helps banks like Bpifrance and asset managers to make lending decisions.

“The October Connect business will be the focus of most of our investment over the next 24 months. We are strengthening our tech, data and product teams, while building a European sales force.” said Olivier Goy, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of October.