Blender acquires a Financial Institution in Europe and increases its secured loan portfolio by NIS 112 million

- The acquisition is expected to speed up the process of obtaining a banking license, triple its credit portfolio and reduce costs of funding in Europe.

- Dr. Gal Aviv, CEO of Blender Financial Technologies Group: "This acquisition is a new milestone to fulfill our vision to become a market leader in digital banking in Europe"

TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Blender Financial Technologies (TASE: BLND) announced the acquisition of a Lithuanian credit union which has approval in principle to convert from a credit union to a bank and is in advanced stage of obtaining a specialized banking license. The acquired corporation specializes in real estate-backed credit with a total secured loan portfolio of NIS 112 million, manages deposits reaching NIS 124 million and has Equity of around NIS 9 million. Blender will purchase approximately 77% of the credit union shares, held by the seller through a wholly owned company, at a price of around NIS 18 million.

This acquisition is subject to the completion of a satisfactory full due diligence and the conversion of the credit union license into a specialized bank – conditions precedent to the transaction.

The goal of this acquisition is to promote Blender to be a pan-European digital bank that specializes in mortgages, real estate-backed credit and secured consumer credit. In addition, the acquisition is expected to speed up the process of obtaining a banking license, triple Blender's credit portfolio and reduce its costs of funding in Europe.

This is another significant milestone in Blender's expansion since its IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in January 2021, following its operations' expansion in Europe in the past year. Last September, the company also announced the signing of an agreement with Bank Hapoalim, under which a joint company will be established to provide digital consumer credit to finance purchases at points of sale and on e-commerce websites. With its cutting-edge product BlenderPay, Blender leads the field of BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), field which is experiencing an accelerated growth in the world, and also in Israel. 

The acquired company was established as a credit union in 2012, providing financial services in secured credit and deposits. The credit union manages deposits of around NIS 124 million paying average annual deposit rate of 2.2% and run a secured credit portfolio of NIS 112 million with a focus on mortgages, secured loans for businesses and secured credit for real estate developers.

Lithuania has a high potential in credit in general and in real estate-backed credit in particular. In the first half of 2021, Lithuania's economy and real estate continued to experience a strong growth with an emphasis on new housing sales, showing consistent growth at a rate of 5.6% in average in the recent years. 

According to Dr. Gal Aviv, CEO of Blender Financial Technologies Group: "This acquisition is a new milestone to fulfill our vision to become a market leader in digital banking in Europe. We estimate that this acquisition and obtaining our banking license will be finalized during this second quarter. This is a turning point for the company, highlighting our rapid growth in digital banking in Europe, that will accelerate our fundraising through new and diversified funding sources while increasing our overall profitability. Our full focus is on the company's growth and on fulfilling our vision to lead a new technology-based banking model."

About Blender

Blender is an international fintech company that provides innovative credit and financing solutions to tens of thousands of customers, according to their preferences and needs. The company has developed a unique and efficient technology to provide credit, using methodologies, tools and ideas from the fields of big data, data mining, machine learning, behavioral psychology and more. The company was founded in 2014 by CEO Dr. Gal Aviv, Deputy CEO and Chief Technology Officer Boaz Aviv and Deputy CEO and Chief Product Officer Barak Gur. The company operates in Israel and Europe. In January 2021, the company completed its IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

For more information:
https://blender.global/
Reut Gilady
Head of Marketing and Communications 
[email protected]