International law firm Pinsent Masons and Swiss law firm Niederer Kraft & Frey have advised Finastra on the acquisition of Olfa Soft SA and its cutting edge FX e-trading platform for banks and financial institutions.
The move enables Finastra to deliver a unique end-to-end real-time eFX trading solution for banks’ treasury departments, covering distribution, position-keeping, post-trade and payments.
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Olfa Soft specializes in the field of trading platform design and integration, providing seamless FX services. The company is a natural fit for Finastra given its complementary solutions and customers.
The Pinsent Masons team advising Finastra was led by Partner Andrew McMillan and supported by Corporate Associate, Chris Watts. Swiss law advice was provided by Niederer Kraft & Frey AG, led by Clara-Ann Gordon (TMT), Patrik Peyer (M&A, Corporate) and Manuel Werder (M&A, Corporate). The wider teams also included:
- Pinsent Masons: Minerva Vanni (Corporate), Samantha Livesey (Commercial), Felicity Parsons (Commercial), Samuel Hall (Commercial) and Satvi Vepa (Tax).
- Niederer Kraft & Frey: Moritz Maurer (M&A, Corporate), Victor Stancescu (M&A, Corporate), Andrea Nordin (Tax), Christina Rinne (VAT), Andreas Vögeli (Real Estate), Oliver Zbinden (Real Estate), Carlo Egle (M&A, Corporate), Anne-Catherine Cardinaux (M&A, Corporate), Catherine Grun (Employment), Laurence Uttinger (Pensions).
Nadeem Syed, CEO at Finastra said, Bringing Olfa Soft into the Finastra fold enables us to provide treasurers around the world with an innovative approach to eFX trading which is unmatched in comprehensiveness in the market. What’s more, this is our first acquisition as Finastra and signals our commitment to ongoing innovation and growth.
Andrew McMillian added: "Our sectoral expertise was an important factor in the completion of this transaction. As ever, Fintech businesses are adopting cutting-edge technology to stay ahead in this fast-evolving sector and no doubt we'll continue to see deal activity of this type on the increase."
Clara-Ann Gordon and Patrik Peyer concur with these statements and emphasize the importance of using integrated teams from all practice areas in order to complete these kind of complex transactions.