What types of fintech companies does Latimer Partners advise?

Latimer Partners advises growth-stage companies across payments technology, wealth technology, banking technology, and digital lending. We work with founders, boards, and private equity sponsors, typically partnering with businesses that have revenue between million and 0 million.

Who buys Australian fintech companies?

The buyer universe includes global fintech players with an interest in Australian operations and international scale, PE-backed platforms pursuing buy-and-build strategies in payments and lending, and ASX-listed acquirers including wealth majors such as Netwealth and Hub24 as well as the major banks.

How does Latimer Partners differ from other M&A advisors in fintech?

Latimer Partners focuses exclusively on the digital economy with a particular focus on financial technology. Our track record spans payments, wealth technology, banking technology, and digital lending, and includes both private and public company transactions, capital raises, sales, and cross-border deals. As the Australian affiliate of Arma Partners, Europe's leading technology M&A advisor, we combine deep local sector knowledge with global buyer relationships.

What drives valuation in fintech M&A?

Key valuation drivers in fintech M&A vary by sub-sector but consistently include revenue quality and predictability, with recurring and subscription revenue commanding premium multiples. In payments, total payment volume and take rate are critical. In digital lending, loan book quality and the degree to which the platform is a technology asset versus a balance sheet business drive value. In wealth technology, assets under advice, revenue per client, and platform stickiness are primary drivers. Across all sub-sectors, AI capability, regulatory positioning, and international scalability are increasingly important differentiators.

Fintech M&A Advisory

A leading Australian advisor to the Financial Technology sector, typically advising businesses with between $20 million and $200 million in revenue across payments, wealth technology, banking technology and digital lending

Latimer Partners advises growth-stage financial technology companies on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising transactions across payments, wealth technology, banking technology, regtech and digital lending. Our track record includes private and public company transactions, cross-border deals, and exits at double-digit revenue multiples. We work with founders, boards and private equity owners, typically partnering with businesses between $20 million and $200 million in revenue.

Market Landscape

Themes in the Fintech Sector in Australia

We expect the financial technology sector to see active mergers and acquisitions activity driven by several trends.

Payments — payment system reform; increasing payments complexity; consolidation

Australia’s payments landscape is undergoing its most significant structural overhaul in decades, driven by multiple regulatory changes including rollout of the New Payments Platform (NPP) and proliferation of payment methods (Buy Now Pay Later, digital wallets, A2A payments), all creating opportunities but also complexity for merchants and acquirers alike. This opportunity has created a myriad of Australian financial technology businesses — but we expect consolidation to continue as smaller fintechs unable to reach scale are consumed by better funded competitors.

Digital Lending — reversal as technology drives cost efficiencies

After several years of margin compression and credit quality concerns that caused many digital lenders to retrench, the sector is experiencing a technology-led resurgence. Advances in machine learning-based credit decisioning, open banking data integration, and automated loan origination platforms have dramatically reduced the cost to underwrite and service loans. The result is a reversal of the earlier retreat, with capital beginning to flow back into the sector as investors gain greater confidence in the unit economics underpinning technology-driven lending models. We expect this to drive further consolidation.

Wealth tech — consolidation driven by AI

Australia’s wealth technology sector is undergoing rapid change driven by (i) artificial intelligence reshaping the economics of financial advice, portfolio management, and client servicing (ii) the high cost (despite AI!) of maintaining compliant, feature-rich platforms (iii) regulatory tailwinds, including the government’s push to make financial advice more accessible and affordable. We see continuing consolidation as legacy platforms increasingly struggle to compete with the capabilities of well-funded, AI-driven wealth platforms.

RegTech & Compliance

Growing regulatory complexity across AML, KYC, financial crime, and reporting obligations is driving sustained demand for compliance automation. RegTech businesses with enterprise financial institution clients, multi-year contracts, and AI-driven workflow products are seeing strong M&A interest from global compliance technology platforms, data and analytics businesses, and financial institution strategic buyers.

“The Australian fintech market is bifurcating – inherent scalability and an advanced technology system has created major Australian payments successes, particularly for those players that have reached critical mass and developed a capability that is relevant at least internationally (Airwallex; AfterPay); while at the other end of the market, increasingly fine margins and a lukewarm investor market are driving down values of listed players and forcing consolidation amongst unlisted players that have yet to break out of local markets or metrics.”

Read our latest Digital Economy Market Update for current data, trading comparables, and transaction analysis

Valuation Insights

What Drives Value

Fintech encompasses fundamentally different business models, from payments infrastructure to lending platforms, wealth technology, and regulatory software. Understanding which metrics matter for each sub-sector is central to how we position clients and run competitive processes.

Revenue quality and predictability: Subscription and recurring fee structures attract materially higher multiples than transaction-only or one-off revenue. Across all fintech sub-sectors, the proportion of contracted or recurring revenue is the single most consistent predictor of valuation premium.
Payment volume, take rate & embedded finance depth: Payments Revenue trajectory is driven by total payment volume (TPV) and blended take rate, with premium multiples commanded by platforms that go beyond gateway functionality into embedded finance — issuing, FX, treasury, and lending — particularly within vertical software or B2B workflows where switching costs and API extensibility reinforce strategic value.
Credit performance and technology leverage: Digital Lending Net interest margin, arrears rates, and secured versus unsecured mix define risk-adjusted returns. Platforms with proprietary credit decisioning infrastructure, open banking integrations, or white-label origination capability attract higher multiples than those with primarily balance sheet exposure, as technology scalability without proportional capital requirements is a key value lever.
AUA scale, revenue per client & regulatory moat: WealthTech RegTech Premium multiples are driven by AUA/AUM scale, wallet share per client, and advisor retention, with the highest valuations reserved for platforms deeply embedded in compliance workflows — where long contract tenures, mandatory renewal dynamics, and regulatory change (AML, KYC, reporting) create structural, low-churn demand.
AI differentiation & regulatory positioning: Proprietary data assets and demonstrable AI capability across fraud detection, credit scoring, or regulatory monitoring are now material valuation drivers attracting both FI and technology acquirers. Equally, a clean regulatory history and appropriate licencing infrastructure (AFSL, ACL, ADI) materially reduce acquisition risk — while regulatory uncertainty and pending enforcement action remains the most common cause of valuation discount in fintech transactions.

For current fintech valuation benchmarks and transaction multiples, see our latest Digital Economy Market Update.

Acquirer Landscape

Who Acquires Fintech Businesses

Global Fintechs

The interest of global financial technology businesses in the Australian market is naturally sub-sector dependent. In general, though, we have seen most interest from global acquirers in Australian businesses which have international operations and the potential to exploit their wealth, banking, or payments capabilities across other markets. We have seen this theme play out across several sectors, including wealth, enterprise data management and risk management, with Latimer Partners principals advising on Apex’s acquisition of Pacific Fund Systems, Rimes’ acquisition of Matrix IDM, European Energy Exchange’s acquisition of Lacima, and GTreasury’s acquisition of Visual Risk.

PE-Backed Platforms

The last five years have finally seen the advent of Private Equity firms investing in the payments space including Five V (Fat Zebra), Potentia (Linkly), Next Capital (Zenith Payments), and Colinton Capital (Moneytech, on which Latimer Partners advised).

We see this trend continuing, though will be held back by valuations amongst Australian fintech targets that often remain anchored on the heady valuations seen earlier this decade.

The fintech sector has also seen significant funding from the growing Australian VC market — but we see few acquirers here, reflecting high capital costs and funding structures that are not typically sympathetic to consolidation.

ASX-Listed Acquirers

With the world’s fourth largest retirement savings pool (driven entirely by superannuation), Australia inevitably breeds a significant number of wealth tech, banking technology and payments businesses. Notwithstanding this, almost all consolidation has been driven by highly rated acquirers from the wealth majors (Netwealth, Hub24) and the major banks.

Our Edge

Why Latimer Partners

Unlike generalist corporate advisors, Latimer Partners focuses exclusively on the digital economy with a particular focus on the financial technology sector. This specialisation means deeper buyer relationships, more relevant transaction experience, and better outcomes for clients.

Through our partnership with Arma Partners, one of the world’s leading technology M&A advisors, we also connect Australian businesses to the international buyer and investor universe across Europe and North America. This combination of local depth and global reach informs how we position every engagement for maximum competitive interest.

34% of our deals are cross-border transactions

100% Referenceable track record

50%+ Deals for repeat clients or counterparties

Fintech M&A Across All Deal Types

Our track record spans private and public company sales, capital raises, and cross-border transactions across every major fintech vertical. We deliver the full range of M&A and capital markets outcomes.

Sector Expertise

We understand the operating metrics, growth levers, and buyer expectations that drive value in the financial technology sector. This means sharper positioning, better-prepared businesses, and stronger deal outcomes.

PE & Strategic Acquirer Relationships

Direct relationships with the private equity firms, local listed and private players in the financial technology sector – and the funds and other financial investors that back fintech businesses in Australia.

Arma Partners Global Reach

As the Australian affiliate of Arma Partners, one of the world’s leading technology M&A advisors, we connect local businesses with international acquirers and bring global market intelligence to every engagement.

Track Record

Transactions Completed

Representative financial technology transactions advised by Latimer Partners’ principals.

Hold and drag to navigate through the transactions

Matrix Investment Data

Advised Matrix on its sale to Rimes

WEALTHTECH Enterprise Data Management
Pacific Fund Systems

Advised PFS on its sale to Matrix

Advised on significant minority investment by Pollen Street Capital

WEALTHTECH
Lacima

Advised Lacima on its sale to European Energy Exchange

Financial Risk Management
Ordermentum

Advised Ordermentum on capital raise and on secondary sale

Payments
Manoova / Moneytech

Advised on three consecutive capital raises

Payments Finance
Task Software (ASX: TSK)

Advised Task on its $310m takeover by Par Technology (NYSE:PAR)

Advised on acquisition of Australian payments IP

Payments
Visual Risk

Advised Visual Risk on sale to GTreasury Holdings

Financial Risk Management