Equistone-backed Small World acquires MoneyGlobe

Small World Financial Services (“Small World”), a leading international, UK-headquartered money transfer provider backed by Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone”), today announces the acquisition of MoneyGlobe, a French international payments company. The transaction represents the first acquisition made by Small World since Equistone, one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity firms, invested in the company in November 2018. The financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

MoneyGlobe has established a strong position in the French international payments market, enabling the movement of money from France to recipients in geographies including North Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean and South America. The acquisition is highly complementary to Small World’s existing footprint, adding coverage of the French market to an extensive money transfer network that currently processes 15 million transactions worldwide each year. By joining Small World, MoneyGlobe will benefit from being able to offer its customers a wider choice of physical and digital channels and a global network of multiple payment options across more than 250,000 cash-pick locations in over 160 countries and direct-to-bank account pay-out in more than 100 countries. This ensures that money transfers take place in seconds, payments can be collected in minutes and credits happen within hours.

Following the acquisition, MoneyGlobe’s management team, led by founder and president Lahcen Sadeq and CEO Adelhak Hidani, will remain with the business. They will join the Small World operating region of Northern Europe & Africa, under the leadership of its Managing Director, Stanley Wachs, who joined the company in mid-2019 and brings a wealth of experience from payments companies including SWIFT, PayPal and Western Union.

Nick Day, Chief Executive and Founder of Small World, said: “We identified MoneyGlobe as a fantastic addition to our business, due to its strong growth to date and established presence in France, a large market where we were looking to strengthen our position. As well as complementing our global coverage, MoneyGlobe is an excellent cultural fit, with its team sharing our commitment to delivering great customer service and fast and reliable transfers. We continue to actively seek acquisition opportunities across a range of countries globally, in order to further enhance our customer proposition and extend our payments network.”

Andrew Backen, Partner at Equistone, commented: “In Small World, we have backed a business that boasts a highly scalable business model with huge potential to grow acquisitively, as well as organically. We’re pleased to have supported the company on this bolt-on acquisition of MoneyGlobe, drawing on Equistone’s local presence in the French market and our extensive experience in cross-border portfolio company M&A. We will continue to back Nick and his team as they seek out additional acquisition opportunities in the future.”