Will Trustly finally go public? (TWIF 10/20)

Private equity investor Nordic Capital is exploring options for Swedish digital payments company Trustly, including a potential sale or initial public offering. Trustly processes over $42 billion in annual transaction volume and was acquired in 2018.

Embedded trading, settlement, and clearing provider Apex entered into an acquisition agreement with FinTron, an investor and advisor-focused design agency.

Payment facilitator Stripe is reportedly in talks to acquire stablecoin enablement platform Bridge for as much as $1 billion, which if true would be its largest acquisition to-date.

Venture capital firm Index pursued an interesting strategy in the UK, acquiringManigo, a British banking-as-a-service and financial infrastructure provider, outright.

Aleph – a holding company parent of payments and advertising products – acquired a controlling interest in Localpayment, an Argentinian payment service provider targeting emerging markets.

Foundation Source, a solutions provider for private foundations, acquiredVennfi, the fintech company behind Charityvest, a donor-advised fund sponsor.

RegTech and compliance firm ACA acquiredEffecta, a regulatory consultancy practice that supports financial services in the UK and GCC.

British account-to-account payments provider Banked got a foothold in the Australian market via its acquisition of local competitor Waave.

Buy-now-pay-later provider Klarnasold off its UK loan book to hedge fund Elliot Advisors in order to free up £30 billion of capital for growth.

De La Rue – a literal money printer based in the UK – agreed to sell off its authentication unit for £300 million to Crane NXT, sending shares up for the 200-year old company.

Asset manager Warburg Pincus acquired a minority stake in Contabilizei, a Brazilian accounting firm, for $125 million. The firm is also pursuing a sale of its $117 billion RIA and broker-dealer network, Kestra Holdings.

Card network American Express completed its acquisition of Tock, a reservation, table, and event management technology provider.