(Bloomberg) -- EQT AB is working with boutique investment bank Financial Technology Partners to find buyers for payments-services provider Banking Circle, which could fetch $3 billion to $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
A sales process for the Luxembourg-based company is slated to kick off in the first quarter of 2025, said one of the people, who asked to not be identified because the details aren’t public. The company could appeal to private equity firms and large credit card and banking companies, the person said. Morgan Stanley is co-advising on the process, the people said.
No final decision has been made and EQT could opt to hold onto the business, the people added. The process might also result in EQT selling a minority stake in the business, one of the people said.
Representatives for EQT, FT Partners and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. A spokesperson for Banking Circle didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Banking Circle offers a “next-generation” cross-border payments service that it says is faster and more efficient than traditional country-to-country payments, according to its website. The company says its cloud-based infrastructure offers real-time transactions in 24 currencies with the goal of reducing the costs of cross-border payments. EQT acquired the company in 2018 from Saxo Bank A/S.
San Francisco-based FT Partners focuses exclusively on deals in the financial technology space.
Reuters reported in September that EQT was weighing a sale of its majority stake in Banking Circle and working with Morgan Stanley.
--With assistance from Sara Sjolin.
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