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Image credit: Unifiedpost

Belgium-based Unifiedpost Group, a European fintech company, has announced the acquisition of Frankfurt and Main-based financial process automation facilitator, Crossinx, in a deal worth €113M.

Transaction overview

In this transaction, Crossinx is valued at 9.8 times the projected 2021 consolidated revenue, representing an upfront Enterprise Value of €100M, with a conditional earn-out payment of €13M. 

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The initial upfront Enterprise Value of €100M was settled with 50 per cent cash and 50 per cent newly issued Unifiedpost shares valued at €20 per share. In addition, the parties have agreed on three earn-out payments depending on Crossinx consolidated organic results for the fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. 

Assuming the maximum earn-out payments, Crossinx is valued at €160M, of which €90M payable in Unifiedpost shares.

About Crossinx

Founded in 2007, the company’s goal is to revolutionise accounting in the private sector and public administration and to create a network that is unique in the German-speaking business world.

Besides, with more than 170 employees in Germany, Switzerland, and Hungary, Crossinx currently works to help companies digitise their entire financial and order processes and reduce process costs in the financial supply chain. 

From ordering to payment and from purchase to cash, for all companies, Crossinx connects companies and municipalities with their customers, suppliers, financial administrations, marketplaces, and financing platforms.

In a statement, Crossinx mentions that it is performing above the market growth (31% CAGR over 2017-2020). With a settlement volume of over €25B and a growth rate of over 100 per cent, Crossinx is the leading German business network and the leader in the fast-growing B2B fintech market. 

More than 350,000 SMEs and over 1,600 larger corporates are interconnected through its platform, which is compliant with the German e-invoicing requirements as well as tax-compliant in over 60 countries. Crossinx’ customers include ABB, Beiersdorf, Conrad Electronic, CWS boco, Hilti, Sartorius, and Sixt, among others. Other companies also obtain these solutions through service offers from banks and ERP manufacturers that are part of the Crossinx (indirect) partner network.

A major step for both companies

By joining forces, the combined group can now offer full order-to-cash and procure-to-pay solutions to small businesses, medium-sized corporates, and large enterprises. 

To accelerate the realisation of its strategy, Unifiedpost combines double-digit organic growth with targeted acquisitions. Hans Leybaert, CEO & founder of Unifiedpost, says, “The acquisition of Crossinx means a significant expansion of Unifiedpost. Not only do we strongly enlarge our geographical footprint in the DACH region, which is crucial for our pan-European roll out in 26 countries this year. Moreover, important and new synergies are created by this combination of businesses.”

The acquisition will also allow Unifiedpost to provide its services in the German market, and even the full DACH region and Hungary.

Crossinx customer base will be leveraged, especially by Unifiedpost’s payment and Supply Chain Finance solutions. Whereas, Unifiedpost’s customers will benefit from process automation in the areas such as invoice approval, order reconciliation, and worldwide tax compliance.

Marcus Laube, CEO & founder of Crossinx, is a well-known pioneer of e-invoicing and co-chair of EESPA (European e-Invoicing Service Provider Association) and will join Unifiedpost’s Executive Board.

Creating the largest European fintech network

Adding 350,000 Crossinx SMEs, the Unifiedpost network will include almost 1 million businesses, including small businesses, mid-size businesses, and large corporates.

Marcus Laube, CEO & founder of Crossinx, says, “The combined networks of Unifiedpost and Crossinx will create a game-changer in the market. The joint cloud network will also include Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain and will enable corporates to communicate between each other and use a variety of services – based on a single connection.”

About Unifiedpost

UnifiedPost provides Solutions-as-a-Service to support its customers’ need to stay on top of market developments. Its mission is to help customers structure complex financial ecosystems by delivering convenient, smart, digital solutions.

Unifiedpost claims to become the leading cloud-based platform for SME business services built on “Documents”, “Identity”, and “Payments”. It operates and develops a 100 per cent cloud-based platform for administrative and financial services that allows real-time and seamless connections between Unifiedpost’s customers, their suppliers, their customers, and other parties along the financial value chain.

Since its inception in 2001, the company has grown significantly, expanding to offices in 21 countries, with more than 400 million documents processed in 2020, reaching over 450,000 SMEs and more than 500 Corporates across its platform to date.

Unifiedpost’s portfolio of clients includes industries such as banking, leasing, utilities, media, telecommunications, travel, social security service providers, public organisations, etc. Besides, the company is also listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels, under the symbol “UPG”.

In December 2020, Unifiedpost Group announced the acquisition of 21 Grams, BanqUP, and AKTI. With these acquisitions, the company wanted to develop its one-stop-shop platform and expand its activities to 20 European countries.