Moneylion to Acquire Even Financial, Expanding Distribution Network and Enhancing Consumers’ Financial Access and Decision Making
By FF Newsroom · 16 December 2021
MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML), the award-winning digital financial platform, announced today that it has agreed to acquire Even Financial Inc. (“Even”), the category-leading embedded finance marketplace, to accelerate its mission of providing financial access and advice to hardworking Americans.
The transaction provides for total consideration to Even’s equity holders of up to $440 million, using a convertible financing structure that values MoneyLion at its initial public listing price of $10 per share. Even’s investors include Goldman Sachs, American Express Ventures, SoFi, F-Prime Capital, MassMutual Ventures, LendingClub, Canaan Partners, and GreatPoint Ventures.
Founded in 2014, Even digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time personalized financial product recommendations from banks, insurance, and fintech companies on mobile apps, websites, and other consumer touchpoints through its marketplace technology. Even’s infrastructure leverages machine learning and advanced data science to solve a significant pain point in financial services customer acquisition, seamlessly bridging financial institutions and channel partners via its industry-leading API and embedded finance marketplaces.
The acquisition strengthens MoneyLion’s platform by improving consumers’ abilities to find and access the right financial products to help them manage their financial lives. Even’s growing network includes over 400 financial institution partners and 500 channel partners, covering a breadth of financial services including loans, credit cards, mortgages, savings, and insurance products. The acquisition also expands MoneyLion’s addressable market, extends the reach of its own products, diversifies its revenue mix, and furthers MoneyLion’s ambition to be the premier financial super app for hardworking Americans.
The strategic benefits of the acquisition include:
- Expanding MoneyLion’s target addressable market leveraging Even’s scalable embedded marketplace infrastructure, to tap into the rapidly growing $230 billion embedded finance industry (1)
- Increasing MoneyLion’s distribution capabilities across Even’s growing network of over 500 channel partners
- Broadening the range of products and services available within MoneyLion via 400 financial services partners covering a portfolio of consumer purchasing intents, including loans, credit cards, mortgages, savings, and insurance products
- Immediately positioning MoneyLion as a “must have” consumer finance product, leveraging MoneyLion’s AI-driven intelligence layer to match consumers with the right product at the right time in pursuit of improved financial access and outcomes across all FICO segments
- Accretive to MoneyLion’s earnings with Even expected to add $90 million of revenue and positive EBITDA in 2022 (excluding synergies)
- MoneyLion will pay a total purchase price of up to $440 million to acquire Even, using a convertible financing structure that values MoneyLion at its initial public listing price of $10 per share, comprised of:
- A $360 million upfront payment comprised of $15 million in cash and $345 million in preferred shares that are convertible into 34.5 million MoneyLion common shares at $10 per share
- Subject to the successful achievement of certain revenue targets, a potential earn-out of up to $80 million, payable up to 8 million in preferred shares valued at $10 per share
- Unconverted preferred shares carry a 3% annual dividend payable in common equity or cash, at MoneyLion’s discretion
- Even employees will be subject to a lock-up of 12 months following closing of the transaction; all other Even shareholders will be subject to a lock-up until March 22, 2022
- The transaction is expected to be accretive to MoneyLion’s 2022 earnings
- The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions
- Evercore is serving as financial advisor and Davis Polk & Wardwell is serving as legal advisor to MoneyLion. Broadhaven is serving as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter is serving as legal advisor to Even