Noerr advises comdirect on sale of B2B direct bank ebase

Noerr has advised comdirect bank AG on the sale of the European Bank for Financial Services GmbH (ebase), which was completed today. The B2B direct bank has been bought by the international fintech provider FNZ.

FNZ Group provides established financial institutions with platform solutions for the entire investment value chain (“Platform as a Service”). ebase is a B2B direct bank that offers a full range of services for financial services providers, insurance companies, banks, asset managers and other companies.

A Noerr team led by Volker Land, co-head of the firm’s Hamburg office and a banking M&A specialist, advised comdirect extensively on the transaction, which was agreed on 10 July 2018. FNZ’s former shareholders (H.I.G. Capital and General Atlantic) in the fourth quarter of 2018 then sold their stake in DNZ to the Canadian pension fund La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”). The regulatory approvals required for the takeover of the bank were therefore of particular importance for the transaction, which has now been successfully completed.

Advisors to comdirect Bank AG: Noerr LLP

Dr Volker Land (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Robert Korndörfer (Corporate/M&A, Munich, joint team lead)

Dr Jens H. Kunz (Financial Supervisory Law, Frankfurt), Dr Florian-Felix Marquardt (Tax Law, Berlin), Helge Heinrich (Antitrust Law, Munich); Associates: Vanessa Wüsthoff, Dr Sarah Götze (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg); Klaudyna Lichnowska (Financial Supervisory Law, Frankfurt)

In-house counsel comdirect bank AG: Sabine Schoon, Dietmar Gabor, Christian Wenzel, Sven Wrede