DGAP-News

GRENKE AG: GRENKE sells stake in viafintech GmbH

DGAP-News: GRENKE AG / Key word(s): Disposal/Investment GRENKE AG: GRENKE sells stake in viafintech GmbH 22.08.2021 / 09:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. GRENKE sells stake in viafintech GmbH

Baden-Baden, August 22, 2021: GRENKE, global financing partner for small and medium-sized enterprises, today announced the sale of its minority stake of 25.01 percent in the fintech company viafintech GmbH to paysafecard.com Wertkarten GmbH, Vienna (Austria) at a price in the low double-digit million euro range.

The stake was sold by GRENKE BANK AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of GRENKE AG. In addition to GRENKE BANK AG, the majority shareholder GLORY Ltd., headquartered in Himeji (Japan), as well as the three founders of viafintech, are also selling their shares. GRENKE BANK AG had invested in viafintech GmbH in 2015 (at that time operating under the name "Cash Payment Solutions GmbH") and will continue to be involved in the company as its primary payment processor under a long-term cooperation agreement.

The closing of the sale is not expected to take place for several months, primarily because the regulatory approval required for such transactions in accordance with the German Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance is still outstanding. The completion of the sale will result in an extraordinary increase in GRENKE AG's Consolidated Group net profit within the next couple of months, depending on the closing date.

Dr Sebastian Hirsch, Chief Financial Officer of GRENKE AG, said: "After very careful consideration, and discussion with viafintech's other shareholders, we decided to take advantage of this option to sell our shareholding. Despite this decision, it is important to us to maintain our successful ongoing collaboration with viafintech, as they continue on their growth path - now as part of Paysafe - through the provision of our banking services." Hirsch added: "Furthermore, this sale will strengthen our capital base in a market environment that remains challenging. Our other investments in the fintech companies finux GmbH and Finanzchef24 GmbH are of a strategic nature to us and remain unchanged."