Four years ago Fundtech was involved in a protracted summer-long M&A battle which saw ACI Worldwide gatecrash S1's attempted merger with Fundtech. Fundtech backed out of S1's embrace in favour of a deal with private equity (PE) firm GTCR.

The US-based global payment and cash management services provider is now selling out to its Toronto-based rival D+H, which acquired another American technology vendor, Harland Financial Solutions, for about the same price two years ago. That move was designed to target the online, mobile and branch banking automation segment among Harland’s client base of community banks and credit unions. 

The $1.25bn bid for Fundtech is aimed at expanding D+H’s offerings and customer base in the global payment and cash management services sector. Globally, the merged entity would service eight of the world’s top 10 banks, and more widely 32 of the top 50 global banks. The combined customer base would consist of 8000 clients.

"I’m very proud of the company and culture that we have built and believe that D+H’s client-centric approach and FinTech expertise represent a great strategic fit for us," said Reuven Ben Menachem, Fundtech’s founder and CEO. "Fundtech joining D+H will create new opportunities for our employees and clients alike."

D+H CEO, Gerrard Schmid, said the deal reflects: "The complexity of today’s global payments infrastructure, proliferation of channels, and an increasing desire for real-time payments. This is driving demand for payment solutions that allow banks to streamline payment processing, while providing a more sophisticated and comprehensive view of liquidity management."