British fintech company FNZ Group has agreed to acquire investment platform ebase from Germany-based comdirect bank for an undisclosed price.

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Image: FNZ signs deal to acquire investment platform ebase. Photo: courtesy of FNZ UK Ltd.

The transaction is expected to help FNZ accelerate towards its goal of becoming a top provider of business-to-business (B2B) wealth management platforms in Europe.

ebase, which was founded in 2002 as part of ADIG Investment, was acquired seven years later by comdirect bank.

The independent and fully licensed German investment platform employs over 250 employees and has nearly €31bn of assets under administration (AuA). It boasts of over a million customers and more than 270 co-operation partners.

ebase’s co-operation partners include banks, insurance firms, asset managers and independent financial intermediaries.

FNZ said that ebase under its ownership, will persist with its strategy to becoming a top digital financial services partner in Germany by means of sustained investment in technology and customer service.

FNZ Group CEO Adrian Durham said: “ebase is a well-established investment platform and leader in the digitisation of wealth management solutions. We look forward to partnering with the highly capable ebase team to grow their business in Germany.”

“This is an important milestone for FNZ Group and underlines our commitment to being the leader in the provision of B2B digital wealth management solutions for financial institutions and their clients in Germany and across Europe.”

Post acquisition, ebase will retain its headquarters in Aschheim, near Munich, and will be continued to be led by its current managing directors Rudolf Geyer and Lars Müller-Lambrecht.

ebase CEO Rudolf Geyer said: “We look forward to working with FNZ Group. Together, we will continue our successful journey and drive our strategy forward.”

The acquisition will be subject to the approval of the banking supervisory and antitrust authorities.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, FNZ offers technology to life insurance firms, banks, asset managers and wealth managers to provide wealth management services to their clients. In December 2017, the company completed an investment in fintech start up Advicefront.