Fintech Brex has been acquired by Capital One (NYSE: COF) in a deal valued at $5.15 billion.
Brex was last valued at $12.3 billion in January 2022; thus, some investors are taking a significant haircut on the purchase price.
Brex is a Fintech that provides bank-like services, including cards, business banking, payments, AI, and more. The platform reports over 35,000 companies using its platform to support financial services.
Capital One is a publicly traded firm best known for its cards. It holds a federal bank charter and is FDIC insured.
Via X, Brex announced the acquistion stating:
“Today, we’re excited to share that Brex and CapitalOne are joining forces in the largest bank-fintech deal in history. This is an important milestone for Brex and a meaningful step forward for our customers. With Capital One’s scale and resources behind us, we’ll be able to invest even more aggressively in automation and AI, deliver more intelligent workflows faster, and continue building products that help businesses grow – all while operating independently with the same team and mission. We’re incredibly excited about what’s ahead and grateful to our customers and community for being part of the journey.”
Brex founder and CEO, Pedro Franceschi, described the deal as a “combination unlike any other bank M&A in history.”
“This story is about growth acceleration, and two founder-led companies coming together to bring a better way to manage money to millions of businesses in the mainstream US economy, who are dramatically underserved by traditional banks.”
As Brex becomes part of Capital One, Franceschi is expected to remain in place to manage its operations. He said the combined firms will be able to “move faster, invest more deeply, and bring more powerful capabilities to businesses than either of us could alone.”
Richard Fairbank, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Capital One, said the acquisition accelerates the company’s journey to provide Fintech, especially in the business payments marketplace.
“Brex invented the integrated combination of corporate credit cards, spend management software and banking together in a single platform. They have taken the rarest of journeys for a fintech, building a vertically integrated platform from the bottom of the tech stack to the top,” he added.
The deal is expected to close mid-2026.
Shares of COF traded lower following the deal announcement.