Zafin acquires fellow Canadian fintech Fincad

Zafin, a Canada-based product and pricing platform for banks and credit unions, has acquired Fincad, a fellow Canadian fintech and specialist in pricing and risk analytics of financial derivatives and fixed-income products.

Zafin acquires Fincad to become “one of Canada’s largest B2B fintech companies”

Fincad comes with a price tag of $32.7 million, according to The Globe and Mail, and paves the way for a potential initial public offering (IPO) next year.

This acquisition, Zafin says, makes it “one of Canada’s largest B2B fintech companies with significant global presence including more than 450 institutional clients, over 60 ecosystem partners, and more than 500 employees spread out across 13 global offices”.

Fincad provides derivative and fixed-income pricing, modelling, and risk analytics to banks, asset management firms, insurance companies, and hedge funds.

It will continue to operate under its own brand.

Christian Kahl, head of product strategy and client service at Fincad, will become interim president, capital markets at Zafin. Russell Goyder, Fincad’s head of product development, will become chief analytics officer of Zafin.

Zafin describes the deal as “a key milestone” in its history as it will enable it to offer pricing and advanced analytics solutions to institutions across all segments of banking, including retail, corporate and commercial, and capital markets – “a key differentiator in the marketplace”.

Another differentiator is a new Analytics-as-a-Service offering, which the company expects to launch later this year.

In other news, Zafin has launched a new banking group, with Dubie Cunningham as president. She previously served as head of innovation at the Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third largest bank. In her new role, Cunningham will have direct oversight of Zafin’s overall banking strategy, sales, client success, and industry engagement.