ebase agree to acquire the securities business of Augsburger Aktienbank AG

Aschheim, 1, July 2020 

The European Bank for Financial Services GmbH (ebase) today confirmed that they have agreed to acquire the entire securities business of Augsburger Aktienbank AG, subject to the necessary approvals. The purchase agreement was signed on 30th of June and the transaction is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. 

Ebase is one of the leading B2B banks in Germany with around 300 employees, over 280 cooperation partners, including insurance companies, asset managers and independent financial investment brokers, and more than 1 million customers. They have been part of the FNZ Group since 2019, when they were acquired by the global platform as a service firm.  

"We as ebase, and also FNZ Group, want to grow our business globally in the coming years, but especially in Germany. Our goal is to become a leading provider of digital B2B investment solutions for financial service providers and their customers in Germany. The takeover of the securities business of Augsburger Aktienbank together with the great team fits very well into our strategy," said Kai Friedrich, CEO of ebase. 

The acquisition will see approximately 180,000 securities accounts and around €17 billion in assets under administration (AuA) migrated in mid-2021. Upon completion of the migration, ebase will have more than €50 billion in assets under administration. 

All employees of the acquired business will then transfer over to ebase and both the Aschheim and Augsburg offices will be maintained.   

Adrian Durham, FNZ Group CEO, commented, "When FNZ acquired ebase, we stated our commitment to working with the team to grow the business and become the leading digital financial services partner in Germany. This transaction adds scale and capability and is an important milestone in that strategy. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to further support our growing business in Germany.” 

In addition to the takeover of the securities business of Augsburger Aktienbank, a long-term cooperation with the previous owner, Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Münster (LVM), was agreed. "We are delighted that in ebase we have gained a partner that is very well positioned in the market with its banking know-how and IT expertise. The cooperation will enable us to continue to offer our customers attractive products in the securities business," added Ludger Grothues, board member of LVM.