Banco Santander, S.A. (BME:SAN) announced on Friday it has acquired the majority stake in Mercury TFS, a Spain-based company that specializes in software solutions that automate the end-to-end management of trade finance transactions for corporate customers, for €30 million.
According to Banco Santander, the transaction will strengthen its international trade offer and consolidate its position as the bank of choice for SMEs and corporate companies with international operations. Santander also reported that one third of its investment into Mercury TFS will be “earmarked” to subscribe for new shares, which will inject funds into the company to enable new services and boost growth in customer numbers and markets. Furthermore, Santander has used Mercury TFS’s services in Spain, Mexico, Chile, and Germany for years.
The Head of Santander’s Global Payments Services, Javier San Félix, stated that the investment also accelerates the company’s plans to build a service platform for SMEs and international companies to better serve our customers worldwide, with its businesses in the UK and Portugal to begin using it at year-end through Global Trade Services (GTS), Santander’s global trade platform. Santander then added:
“GTS provides offering international payments, currency exchange, trade finance and multicountry accounts to SMEs and companies conducting international business. Mercury TFS has flexible, open and cloud-ready architecture that can be seamlessly integrated into open financial platforms and with modular design, such as GTS.”