Five Degrees, a Netherlands-based fintech, announced on Thursday it has acquired Libra, a provider of core banking IT systems in the financial sector in Iceland. Five Degrees reported that the acquisition boosts its international growth ambitions, enabling the company to offer its full-service proposition of digital banking solutions, supporting financials worldwide to meet modern standards.
The acquisition also allows Five Degrees to provide a clear roadmap to its customers to retire obsolete and expensive back-end systems. The company stated:
“Moreover, banks can replace specific activities with more agile core banking products and outsource their core banking systems into a shared and fully compliant service environment. By utilizing the combined strength of Five Degrees and Libra products, banks can now profit from higher efficiency and lower costs.”
Speaking about the acquisition, Martijn Hohmann, CEO of Five Degrees, stated:
“We are very happy with the acquisition of Libra, which is a very strong player in the financial market in Iceland. It is the ambition of Five Degrees to expand internationally and achieve a global market leadership position in digital banking. We have developed a clear-cut strategy to achieve that ambition. The combined expertise and track-record of Five Degrees and Libra uniquely positions us to support customers to transfer smoothly to ‘digital’ and to benefit from increased flexibility and reduced costs. This acquisition represents a perfect opportunity to accelerate progress and deliver value to our clients and employees.”
Thordur Gislason, CEO of Libra added:
“Libra has been actively seeking opportunities to grow for the last few years to support our customers and the Icelandic financial market into the future. To become a part of Five Degrees enables us to support our clients with new technology, products and services. Besides, it creates opportunities to utilize our knowledge and experience in a larger market. We believe that our future plans have a great fit with the vision and strategy of Five Degrees. We have very exciting times ahead of us.”
Founded in 2010, Five Degrees describes itself as a banking technology company that supports financials in their digital transformation with its next-generation digital banking platform.