bury, one of Europe’s largest fintech companies, is pleased to announce its first acquisition: Frontierpay, an international payroll payments provider with offices in the UK and Singapore.

Ebury’s strategy

Ebury, an award-winning fintech based in London, has acquired the payroll payments business, Frontierpay, as part of its expanded technology investment programme.

The acquisition forms part of Ebury’s broader strategy to invest in technologies that will help accelerate the automation of international payment processes, specifically targeting those within finance and treasury functions of mid-market corporates.
In addition to payments, Ebury is investing in technologies that improve the global trade process for SMEs including FX and currency hedging, international cash management and trade finance. This year, major banking partnerships with SACE Simest and Unicaja Banco were announced, further enhancing the service they can provide to their global client base.

Frontierpay acquisition

Frontierpay, which was founded in 2009, delivers cost effective and reliable payroll payments across 180 countries. The payroll business will enhance Ebury’s global trade and transaction banking platform, and accelerate its growth.

With an office in Singapore, the acquisition also extends Ebury’s geographic footprint in the Asia-Pacific region alongside its new Australian office.

[The Asia-Pacific region, where there are approximately 10,000 new SMEs launching each year, is a key target for Ebury, which currently serves c40,000 small and mid-sized companies and institutions around the globe.]

Ebury’s growth

The acquisition follows a period of geographic expansion for Ebury, which currently has 25 offices globally in 20 countries.

Juan Lobato, Ebury’s Co-founder and CEO, commented: “I am delighted to announce Ebury’s first acquisition. This transaction comes during a period of change for our business, as we partner with more financial institutions and invest heavily in the technologies that will change the way SMEs trade and make payments internationally.

“We know Frontierpay well so are confident of the product, client and geographic benefits and, most importantly, the cultural fit. The addition of Frontierpay’s founders to our team will complement our entrepreneurial spirit and add valued experience to our team.

“The continued addition of products to Ebury’s core platform demonstrates that as the platform matures, revenue opportunities develop through new service lines as well as geographic expansion. The development of an acquisition strategy will accelerate our growth, as we can reach more clients with more services than ever before. We look forward to another exciting period ahead.”

Owain Walters, CEO of Frontierpay: “This is a significant milestone for our business and we are delighted to be joining a like-minded minded company with a strong cultural alignment. Access to Ebury’s platform and services will allow our already-strong growth rate to accelerate and give our existing clients the benefit of its unique cross-border transaction services, wider geographical coverage and a large dedicated technology team to drive our product development. ”

About Ebury:

Ebury enables cross-border transactions for companies, institutions, and banks and their clients, that want to trade internationally. Established in London in 2010, Ebury is one of Europe’s largest and best funded fintech companies. Juan Lobato, a serial entrepreneur, and Salvador García, an expert in Financial Services, created Ebury to make it easier for businesses to trade internationally.

Since 2010, Ebury has become the largest non-bank provider of global transaction services, offering organisations access to a platform that allows them to make international payments, receive international collections, manage currency risk and get access to financing.

Ebury currently employs circa to 1,000 staff across 25 offices in 20 countries and is serving over c.40,000 businesses internationally. What started in the UK is now a global company with offices in several European countries, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Mainland China, Australia, Canada and the US. Ebury’s investors include 83North (investors in iZettle, Celonis, JustEat) and Vitruvian Partners (investors in Farfetch, Skyscanner, Darktrace, Marqeta).

The deal is still undergoing regulatory approval in Singapore.