Nubank announced on Friday morning, 11, the acquisition of broker Easynvest. The deal, closed on Thursday night, represents the entry of the largest digital bank in the country into the heated investment market already in a prominent position, since “Easy” is the largest independent digital broker in the market, with 1.5 million customers and more than 20 billion reais in custody. The transaction amounts will not be disclosed.
The deal will be made through cash payments and, for the most part, share exchanges. Easynvest shareholders will receive shares in Nubank, starting with Advent, an American private equity company that holds the broker's largest stake, with 60% of the capital. Management professionals will also win shares, with the aim of aligning interests so that the integration is successful and for the future operation.
“We are very happy with the acquisition. We have been studying the investment sector very carefully for some time and we understand that it is strategic for several reasons, ”said David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, to Exame.
"Once Nubank starts offering investment products to our 30 million customers, there is enormous potential for us to gain an even stronger position in this market," said the Colombian entrepreneur.
It will be a strategic leap for the digital bank founded in 2013 by Vélez, the Brazilian Cristina Junqueira (columnist for Exame) and the American Edward Wible, who was born with a single product, a credit card with no annual fee - currently used by 15 million people . The digital account, in turn, has 26 million users.
The acquisition of Easynvest will allow the bank to increase revenues from the offer of products, such as investment funds (there are around 450), in addition to increasing the recurrence of the use of financial services. And it will put you in a position to benefit from the strong growth of the investment market in the environment of lower interest rates.
Vélez said that the market is full of complexities and inefficiencies for users. In addition, according to him, a small portion of the population has access to good products, while the majority do not have access or only receive products that do not make sense to them. And this opens up an opportunity to improve the offer.
For Easynvest, the business will further enhance growth, although it is likely to be incorporated in the future. This year, the broker took advantage of the low interest environment to accelerate the expansion; and hired the American bank JPMorgan in June to look for a partner who could help it with that goal.
“This agreement is a recognition of Easynvest's successful track record in democratizing access to investments. With Nubank, the company becomes more competitive, reaches a new level of growth and expands the service offer to even more people in Brazil and Latin America ”, said Fernando Miranda, CEO of Easynvest.
It is a movement that other market players have also adopted. In June, modalmais brokered an agreement with the bank Credit Suisse to sell up to 35% of its capital; the following month, fintech Neon Payments acquired Magliano Invest. As a business background, the objective is to expand the offer of services.
Unhurried integration
The two operations will continue to operate independently until the acquisition receives approval from the Central Bank and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). Once this happens, a gradual integration will take place, where Nubank customers will have access to selected Easynvest products.
“We don't see the need for accelerated integration,” said Vélez. “The customer does not need access to so many products and the complete platform that Easy has. We will probably increase the offer little by little ”, completed Vélez.
“Many of our customers have products, outside of Nubank, that don't make sense. Savings, fixed income funds. With the offer of few products, it will be possible to improve the investment decisions they make ”, he said.
An important pillar in this gradual integration will be financial education, something that Nubank already offers through its website, but which will be reinforced with the acquisition of Easynvest, which has its own channel and daily programs with Samy Dana and Dony De Nuccio.
The objective will be to replicate in the investment segment the same strategy of “democratizing access” to financial services through lower costs, as was done with the purple credit card.
Negotiations between the two institutions have spread over the past few months. “There are many similarities between Nubank and Easynvest, the cultures are similar and there was a match. It is a complementary partner that will accelerate our entry into investments ”, said the CEO of Nubank, who defined the transaction as an exception.
It was a reference to the first two acquisitions in the history of Nubank, both in 2020: in January, Plataformatec, a consultancy specialized in agile method and in the development and management of digital products. The second, in June, was the purchase of the American consultancy Cognitect, specialized in software development.
In both cases, they were acquisitions that aimed to bring knowledge in technology and also talents in this disputed area.
"Our bias continues to be to build (the development) inside the house", he affirmed, to then complete: "We continue to look for good opportunities that make sense".
Nubank announced on Friday morning, 11, the acquisition of broker Easynvest. The deal, closed on Thursday night, represents the entry of the largest digital bank in the country into the heated investment market already in a prominent position, since “Easy” is the largest independent digital broker in the market, with 1.5 million customers and more than 20 billion reais in custody. The transaction amounts will not be disclosed.
The deal will be made through cash payments and, for the most part, share exchanges. Easynvest shareholders will receive shares in Nubank, starting with Advent, an American private equity company that holds the broker's largest stake, with 60% of the capital. Management professionals will also win shares, with the aim of aligning interests so that the integration is successful and for the future operation.
“We are very happy with the acquisition. We have been studying the investment sector very carefully for some time and we understand that it is strategic for several reasons, ”said David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, to Exame.
"Once Nubank starts offering investment products to our 30 million customers, there is enormous potential for us to gain an even stronger position in this market," said the Colombian entrepreneur.
It will be a strategic leap for the digital bank founded in 2013 by Vélez, the Brazilian Cristina Junqueira (columnist for Exame) and the American Edward Wible, who was born with a single product, a credit card with no annual fee - currently used by 15 million people . The digital account, in turn, has 26 million users.
The acquisition of Easynvest will allow the bank to increase revenues from the offer of products, such as investment funds (there are around 450), in addition to increasing the recurrence of the use of financial services. And it will put you in a position to benefit from the strong growth of the investment market in the environment of lower interest rates.
Vélez said that the market is full of complexities and inefficiencies for users. In addition, according to him, a small portion of the population has access to good products, while the majority do not have access or only receive products that do not make sense to them. And this opens up an opportunity to improve the offer.
For Easynvest, the business will further enhance growth, although it is likely to be incorporated in the future. This year, the broker took advantage of the low interest environment to accelerate the expansion; and hired the American bank JPMorgan in June to look for a partner who could help it with that goal.
“This agreement is a recognition of Easynvest's successful track record in democratizing access to investments. With Nubank, the company becomes more competitive, reaches a new level of growth and expands the service offer to even more people in Brazil and Latin America ”, said Fernando Miranda, CEO of Easynvest.
It is a movement that other market players have also adopted. In June, modalmais brokered an agreement with the bank Credit Suisse to sell up to 35% of its capital; the following month, fintech Neon Payments acquired Magliano Invest. As a business background, the objective is to expand the offer of services.
Unhurried integration
The two operations will continue to operate independently until the acquisition receives approval from the Central Bank and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). Once this happens, a gradual integration will take place, where Nubank customers will have access to selected Easynvest products.
“We don't see the need for accelerated integration,” said Vélez. “The customer does not need access to so many products and the complete platform that Easy has. We will probably increase the offer little by little ”, completed Vélez.
“Many of our customers have products, outside of Nubank, that don't make sense. Savings, fixed income funds. With the offer of few products, it will be possible to improve the investment decisions they make ”, he said.
An important pillar in this gradual integration will be financial education, something that Nubank already offers through its website, but which will be reinforced with the acquisition of Easynvest, which has its own channel and daily programs with Samy Dana and Dony De Nuccio.
The objective will be to replicate in the investment segment the same strategy of “democratizing access” to financial services through lower costs, as was done with the purple credit card.
Negotiations between the two institutions have spread over the past few months. “There are many similarities between Nubank and Easynvest, the cultures are similar and there was a match. It is a complementary partner that will accelerate our entry into investments ”, said the CEO of Nubank, who defined the transaction as an exception.
It was a reference to the first two acquisitions in the history of Nubank, both in 2020: in January, Plataformatec, a consultancy specialized in agile method and in the development and management of digital products. The second, in June, was the purchase of the American consultancy Cognitect, specialized in software development.
In both cases, they were acquisitions that aimed to bring knowledge in technology and also talents in this disputed area.
"Our bias continues to be to build (the development) inside the house", he affirmed, to then complete: "We continue to look for good opportunities that make sense".