Currencies Direct has raised £140 million in funding from Blackstone for a minority stake in the digital FX platform.
The London firm is behind one of the largest international payment platforms for private clients and SMEs with £105m in revenues and £43m of EBITDA for the 12 months ending January 2022.
Funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities have made the strategic investment, which will be made in partnership with Currencies Direct’s management team, led by Keith Hatton, and Palamon and Corsair. These existing investors will retain their majority co-controlling stake in the company.
The investment will fund acquisitive growth and concludes ‘a series of successful dividend recapitalisations over the last 12 months’.
In January the company completed a £235m senior refinancing with Pemberton Asset Management, which followed a March 2021 £165m refinancing.
“We are pleased to welcome Blackstone as a strategic investor alongside our long-term partners Palamon and Corsair,” said Hatton. “We are confident Blackstone’s expansive resources and expertise will help fuel our growth as we build on our significant momentum.
“Together with Palamon and Corsair, we have built a successful, sustainable, and innovative business with the knowledge, technology, and global footprint required to deliver best-in-class digital FX and international payment services.”
Ali Rahmatollahi, partner at Palamon, commented: “Currencies Direct has more than tripled EBITDA during our ownership to become one of the undisputed and most successful leaders in digital international payments in its core verticals.
“We have returned substantial capital back to our investors through this investment and are excited to be able to maintain significant exposure to the next phase of its development.
“We have step-change projects underway, the market opportunity is massive, and we continue to see an open runway for growth acceleration, both organically and through M&A.
“As such, we are delighted to partner with Blackstone to continue supporting the Company with added firepower to execute on those expansion opportunities.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2022.