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Railsr agrees rescue sale to investors

Embedded banking platform Railsr has been saved from collapse after agreeing a sale to a consortium of investors led by D Square Capital. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Railsr agrees rescue sale to investors

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

D Square Capital has been joined by Moneta VC and Ventura Capital for the purchase and re-capitalisation, which sees Railsr continue trading under a new entity, Embedded Finance Limited, with the existing one going into administration.

The change of control has been agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority, which Railsr says ensures business continuity for its customers, and more than five million end-users. The firm will remain headquartered in the City of London.

The deal includes Railsr's embedded finance platform and BaaS business, as well as a number of subsidiaries, including its UK regulated subsidiary, PayrNet.

Railsr chair, Rick Haythornthwaite, who remains in place, says: "A huge number of people across the financial ecosystem believe in Railr's potential and have worked very hard to make this transaction a reality. We will now get back to basics and manage the business methodically and constructively. We have secured a new chapter for Railsr and are excited about what the future holds."

Railsr has been looking for a buyer for several months as it faced up to the economic downturn, with a possible deal with African payments technology unicorn Flutterwave falling through.

A year ago, the firm was looking for investment at a $1 billion valuation, but in October it finally secured funds at a heavily discounted $250 million value.

Railsr's UK subsidiary is also being audited by the FCA while its Lithuanian unit is being investigated over concerns it has been "grossly and systematically" violating money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

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Comments: (1)

A Finextra member 

Anyone thinking fintech could sail through current economic headwinds is getting a wake up call. This news, and the Silicon Valley Bank story, are making the point. If there's anyone out there naively still thinking optimism and buzzwords will get them through, had better get with the program: cut costs; conserve cash; concentrate on customers.

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