Flutterwave, Moniepoint, Ripple, Mastercard and Plaid makes moves (TWIF 3/29)

BHAV Acquisition priced a $100 million SPAC IPO, targeting acquisitions in robotics, drones, and fintech sectors. 

Ripple plans to acquire BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd to secure an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and expand its payments offering in Australia. 

Flutterwave acquired Mono, an open banking infrastructure platform, to build an interoperable financial system across Africa.

Moniepoint acquired Orda Africa, a Nigeria-based cloud restaurant management platform, integrating it into its Moniebook POS suite to combine payments, inventory, and credit for Africa's food service sector.

Fireblocks agreed to acquire TRES Finance, the enterprise financial data and reporting platform for digital assets, enabling institutions to manage the full lifecycle of digital asset operations. 

Mastercard is exploring the sale of its real-time payments unit (acquired from Denmark's Nets Group in 2019) for $3.2 billion, and which generates ~$370M in annual revenue. 

Plaid acquired This Week in Fintech (TWIF) to broaden its product suite and deepen ecosystem engagement while maintaining TWIF's editorial independence. 

Broadridge Financial Solutions acquired Acolin, a European provider of cross-border fund distribution and regulatory services, expanding its global fund services platform.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) acquired a minority stake in OKX, valuing the crypto exchange and blockchain technology company at $25 billion, with plans to launch US-regulated futures contracts and provide institutional access to digital assets.

Zilch agreed to acquire AB Fjord Bank, a Lithuania-based regulated bank, to accelerate its consumer payments platform expansion across Europe. 

Isracard, one of the largest credit card issuers in Israel, agreed to acquire Esh Bank, an Israeli digital bank, at a valuation of $130 million.

J. Safra Sarasin Group completed its acquisition of a 71% majority stake in Saxo Bank, the Denmark-based fintech investment bank, bringing combined client assets to over $460 billion.