Invoice financing roll-up Tungsten says it expects to take full control of the UK arm of First International Bank of Israel (Fibi) within the next two months, after formally submitting an application for change of control to the UK's Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Founded by City financier Edmund Truell last year, Tungsten engineered a £99 million buyout of e-invoicing network OB10 and provisionally agreed. the acquisition of a five-year rolling license agreement with @UK PLC to deploy its spend analytic software technology to the invoice data crossing OB10's network.
Established with the express aim of shaking up the supply chain finance industry, the acquisition of Fibi is seen as a key element in the firm's plans to provide suppliers with access to accelerated invoice settlement on a transparent and simple to execute basis.
Under Tungsten, the Fibi board will be chaired by Truell, with Phil Ashdown elected as CEO and Steven Clowes CFO. In addition, Gordon Payne has joined Tungsten from Sumitomo to help lead the work on multinational Supply Chain Finance growth.
In the six months since floating on AIM, the firm claims to have made strong progress overall in integrating its financing and analytics capabilities into the e-invoicing network; and in organising the combined Tungsten group to be capable of large-scale growth.
Says Truell: "The opportunity to create a disruptive global player is even greater than I first thought. We can realistically aim to create the leading global digital invoicing network, serving the world's largest corporates and governments."
The company will deliver results for the full year to 30 April in July. Shares in the group were trading at 260 pence in mid-morning, up nine percent on the overnight close, and 30 pence up on the 230 pence debut price on AIM.