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Bank charters dominated the news this week. Wise had its U.S. banking license application rejected, while Upstart received conditional approval to establish a national bank. Nubank took another route, acquiring Banco Porto Real to secure a full banking license in Brazil.
It was also a big week for bank M&A, including a deal that would create the nation’s largest Black-owned bank. Meanwhile, Stripe reportedly entered talks to acquire OpenRouter in a potential $10 billion deal.
Image courtesy of Wise.
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Reads of the Week
IPOs & SPACs - Fintech
SBI Funds Management listed in India following a $1.03 billion IPO, with shares closing 6.2% above the offer price and valuing the asset manager at nearly $13 billion.
Pinnacle Acquisition filed for a $200 million IPO to pursue commercial finance, consumer finance and related financial services businesses.
Airtel Africa selected the London Stock Exchange for the planned IPO of its mobile-money platform Airtel Money in the second half of 2026.
Market Technology Acquisition raised $200 million in a Nasdaq SPAC IPO to pursue equities and options clearing infrastructure and related fintech platforms.
Bluerock Acquisition II filed for a $150 million Nasdaq SPAC IPO targeting Web3, digital-asset and data-intensive fintech infrastructure businesses.
Caedryn Acquisition I withdrew its proposed $60 million Nasdaq SPAC IPO targeting AI and fintech companies.
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M&A - Fintech
Brazilian receivables-financing technology provider Quick Soft acquired ERP software company RGBtec to expand its offerings for investment funds, securitization firms and factoring companies.
European Technology Group acquired U.K. financial-support discovery platform Lightning Reach to expand its portfolio of public-sector technology businesses.
Nasdaq agreed to acquire institutional-investment due-diligence platform Dasseti to add AI-powered research and monitoring tools to Nasdaq eVestment.
UK business-account provider ANNA Money acquired company-formation platform Business Data Group and small-business community UK Business Forums.
Indian risk and intelligence firm IIRIS Consulting acquired banking and capital-markets technology provider Dion Global Solutions through a resolution plan valued at ₹802.93 lakh ($853,000).
Stripe reportedly entered talks to acquire AI-model marketplace OpenRouter in a potential $10 billion deal.
M&A - Banks and Financial Institutions
First Financial Bancorp agreed to acquire Finward Bancorp for $208 million in cash, expanding its Chicago-area banking franchise.
Northrim BanCorp agreed to acquire PBCO Financial Corp., the parent of People’s Bank of Commerce, for $167.3 million in stock, expanding the Alaska-based bank into Oregon.
Optus Bank agreed to acquire Mechanics & Farmers Bank in a deal worth at least $105 million, creating the nation’s largest Black-owned bank with about $1.3 billion in assets.
Nubank agreed to acquire Brazilian wholesale lender Banco Porto Real de Investimentos to secure a full banking license in Brazil.
FinWise Bancorp acquired Tallied Technologies’ credit card issuing and processing platform to bring its card infrastructure in-house.
Goldman Sachs Alternatives agreed to acquire commodity risk-management and financial technology provider AEGIS Hedging Solutions.
Santander expects its $12.3 billion acquisition of Webster Financial to close by year-end after securing European Central Bank and OCC approval, with Federal Reserve approval still pending.
Gesa Credit Union agreed to acquire Oregon-based Willamette Valley Bank, giving the Washington credit union its first presence in Oregon.
