Bryan, Garnier & Co acts as sole advisor to La Banque Postale which acquires 10% stake in WeShareBonds, a platform for crowd-lending
Paris, December 12th 2016 – La Banque Postale acquired a 10% equity stake in WeShareBonds, a new AMF-approved player in the crowd-lending space, focused on SME financing. Bryan, Garnier & Co was the sole financial advisor for this operation.
Following the creation phase of start-ups in the Fintech sector, there is now a new investment trend with banks, who are particularly active in the digital space, becoming minority shareholders of start-ups in order to accelerate their own development in new technologies.
The agreements signed today include an industrial partnership that will be implemented during the first quarter of 2017, focused on the following two areas:
- developing the product range and portfolio of professionals and SMEs of La Banque Postale by enhancing their financial solutions with the innovative financing offer of WeShareBonds
- increasing WeShareBonds’ funded projects by implementing gateways for La Banque Postale’s clients and by supporting the funding of WeShareBonds’ credit funds.
More broadly, this alliance between a major French bank and a French online lending platform will allow these two stakeholders to work hand in hand on an efficient plan aiming to finance the real economy and the growth of French SMEs.
The partnership regards medium and long-term unsecured credit funding, the whole process being submitted to a deep credit analysis.
La Banque Postale and WeShareBonds hope to tackle the challenge for SMEs to quickly find credit funding whereas mid and large caps are efficiently served by the banks.
Serge Bayard, Companies and Development Director of La Banque Postale, states: “This partnership is part of the innovation strategy led by La Banque Postale and reflects its willingness to support growing SMEs. Through its strong understanding of the issues faced by SMEs, WeShareBonds will enable us to develop new ideas for our clients.”
Cyril Tramon, CEO of WeShareBonds, states: “We were looking for a partner that shares our vision and that will be able to support us in our development. La Banque Postale is a recognized establishment well known for its strong interest for innovation. We are deeply grateful for the trust they have placed in us.”
Guillaume Nathan, Partner at Bryan, Garnier & Co, adds: “We are delighted to have assisted WeShareBonds and La Banque Postale in this strategic partnership. This operation shows our strong understanding of institutional French players and our ability to advise growth companies in the Fintech market, particularly in the sector of SME financing, bringing these two universes together.“
Transaction advisor:
Financial: Bryan, Garnier & Co (Guillaume Nathan)
WeShareBonds advisor:
Legal: SLVF (François Bourrier-Soifer)
La Banque Postale advisor:
Legal: UGGC (Jean-Philippe Crot, Alix Amaury)
About La Banque Postale (www.labanquepostale.fr)
La Banque Postale, a subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste, is present in the retail banking, insurance and asset management markets. As a civic-minded bank, it supports its customers by offering a sustainable banking relationship with an extensive range of reasonably priced and accessible products and services. As a local bank providing a public service, La Banque Postale meets the needs of all: private individuals, businesses, professionals and the local public sector. It strives to serve its customers through the network of post offices, online and by telephone as part of a fully multi-channel relationship.
About WeShareBonds (www.wesharebonds.com)
WeShareBonds is a crowdfunding platform allowing investors to directly co-finance loans to SMBs with the team and shareholders of the platform while understanding and accepting inherent risks. WeShareBonds a trademark of Wiseprofits SAS, is approved by the AMF as a crowdfunding adviser (CIP) and is currently undergoing certification by the ORIAS.
About Bryan, Garnier & Co (www.bryangarnier.com)
Bryan, Garnier & Co is a European, full service growth-focused independent investment banking partnership founded in 1996. The firm provides equity research, sales and trading, private and public capital raising as well as M&A services to growth companies and their investors. It focuses on key growth sectors of the economy including Technology, Media, Telecoms, Healthcare, Smart Industries, Specialty Retail and Business Services. Bryan, Garnier & Co is a fully registered broker dealer authorized by the FCA in Europe and the FINRA in the U.S. Bryan, Garnier & Co is headquartered in London, with additional offices in Paris, Munich, Geneva, New York and New Delhi. The firm is a member of the London Stock Exchange and Euronext.