Acquisitions! Acquisitions! Acquisitions! (TWIF 9/8)

Global crypto and cross-border payments platform Ripple is reportedly close to launching its own stablecoin, but does not plan to go public any time soon due to what it calls the 'hostile' relationship of the SEC to the crypto industry.

HR and payroll software company Paylocity agreed to acquire corporate spend startup Airbase for $325 million (which, as Charley Ma estimates, currently operates at a $15 million revenue run-rate; an implied 22x multiple). Paylocity has a market cap just under $9 billion and serves 40,000 customers.

Instant payout provider Ingo Payments – whose founder we recently profiled on the TWIF podcast – acquired cloud banking platform Deposits to provide account money-in and money-out functionality to the platform.

Startup and business bank Mercury*, an American neobank with 100,000+ customers, announced that it will acquire embedded accounting provider Teal.

IFS, an enterprise and industrial software builder, acquiredCopperleaf, a provider of financial decision analytics, for C$1 billion.

Saudi buy-now-pay-later giant Tabby, which last year raised a $200 million Series D at a $1.5 billion valuation,announced its acquisition of Saudi digital wallet provider Tweeq to offer customers spending accounts with money management tools.

UAE-based payment gateway Tarabut, which has been expanding open banking across the MENA, acquired UK account-to-account payments platform Vyne to begin accepting UK transfers.

Allica, a UK neobank for small businesses, acquired bridge loan provider Tuscan Capital from growth investor Quilam Capital.

The Bank of New York Mellon, a national bank with $2 trillion in assets under management, agreed to acquire fintech Archer, which provides asset managers with middle- and back-office solutions to address managed account needs of institutional, private wealth and retail investors.

MyCarrier, a platform for trucking companies and shippers to quote, dispatch, track, analyze, and audit invoices, acquired fleet and freight payments provider Curant.

Private equity firm Welsh Carson acquiredEquilend, a builder of securities finance software including electronic trading, SaaS platform, post-trade automation, data and analytics and regtech.

European private equity firm Cinven offered between €500-600 million to acquire the payments arm of Spanish defense tech provider Indra, which put the unit up for sale at a €2.1 billion price point last year.

Wealth management firm Quilter acquired digital investing app NuWealth, which offers ISAs, general investment, and savings accounts (no relation to NuBank).

Axway, a French enterprise API platform, acquiredSopra Banking Software, a builder of composable architecture to digitize operations in banking, lending, compliance, and payments, for €330 million.

Private equity firm Maven Capitalsold off its stake in compliance software MirrorWeb to (an unnamed?) US growth equity firm for a 5x return.

New York bank ConnectOne Bancorp will acquire smaller peer First of Long Island in an all-stock deal valued at $284 million.

Private equity investor Oaktree Capital Management will sellBanca Progetto, an Italian specialty finance bank, to funds managed by Centerbridge Partners.

American private equity fund Clearlake Capital will acquire pan-European private credit specialist MV Credit from asset manager Natixis Investment Managers, part of a wider push by investors into corporate lending.

Swiss stock market operator SIX Group is weighing a potential sale of its financial information business.