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(Alliance News) - Equals Group PLC on Monday said it has entered into a deal to acquire open banking payments platform Roqqett Ltd for a total consideration of up to GBP2.3 million.
London-based Equals Group is a payments firm for small and medium enterprises.
The acquisition includes an initial GBP1.0 million cash payment, followed by three deferred payments totalling GBP1.3 million. The deferred payments comprise one payment of GBP250,000 and two payments of GBP500,000, one of which is in cash and the other which will be satisfied by the issue of shares in Equals at the price of 87.23 pence per share.
Equals shares were down 2.1% to 92.00 on Monday afternoon in London.
Equals said the second and third deferred payments will be due when certain capabilities are added to the platform, and they are expected to be paid in under one year.
Roqqett is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as both an Account Information Service Provider and Payment Initiation Service Provider, two licences that Equals said it currently doesn't hold.
"The platform, underlying technology, and licences that we are acquiring fit well with our stated strategy of providing payments solutions to our business-to-business customer base," Equals Chief Executive Ian Strafford-Taylor said.
"The ability to provide our corporate customers with an alternative route to acquire payments from their business-to-business or business-to-consumer customers is the last piece of the jigsaw in terms of Equals participation in the full payment lifecycle."
Strafford-Taylor added that the acquisition allows Equals to widen its markets for its services and drive growth.
By Jaskeet Briah; jaskeetbriah@alliancenews.com
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