2022年11月17日

紐約(路透社)-長期以來被摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase & Co)等視為威脅的金融科技公司，正越來越多地成為傳統美國銀行的收購目標，因為利率上升和估值下降阻礙了它們的擴張。傑富瑞集團(Jefferies Group)的分析師上周在一份報告中表示，2022年，上市金融科技公司的估值暴跌了70%。根據Refinitiv IBES的數據，同期標準普爾500指數中銀行股的估值下降了33%，標準普爾500指數的估值下降了23%。這種下降為普通銀行提供了一個機會，可以收購公司，增強數字銀行、在線支付和其他金融服務的技術，並實現貸款以外的多元化。亨廷頓銀行股份有限公司就是這樣一家銀行。這家位於俄亥俄州哥倫布市的地區性銀行在今年5月收購了支付金融科技公司Torana後，正在尋找更多的收購目標。亨廷頓首席執行官Steve Steinour在接受路透社采訪時表示:“我們可能會在支付方麵購買更多產品。”投資者今年拋售了金融科技股和其他科技股，這些股票在經濟增長強勁時表現更好。隨著美國經濟可能陷入衰退，利率上升，金融科技的前景受到了侵蝕。上周備受矚目的加密交易所FTX的崩潰也動搖了市場信心。 "With valuations coming down, and the IPO and SPAC markets all but dried up at the moment, there's certainly a lot more room for acquisitions by traditional banks into fintech," said Dan Goerlich, a partner at PwC who focuses on financial deals. The renewed interest contrasts with previous years, when finance chiefs balked at acquiring companies they saw as too richly valued, he said. The year's losses have been steep. For example, shares of Affirm Holdings, which offers buy-now pay-later services, have fallen about 85% this year. Personal finance firm Dave Inc has plunged almost 97%. Affirm declined to comment. Dave did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Startup founders could come under more pressure to do deals as it gets more expensive to run their companies. Investors have become intensely focused on rising funding costs, Jefferies analyst John Hecht wrote in a note. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has warned for a decade that Silicon Valley is coming to eat banks' lunch. In that time, fintechs have blossomed as customers and businesses embraced digital financial services. Pandemic lockdowns supercharged the trend as everyone moved online. Even so, the price rally stalled this year as the economic outlook darkened. Aiming to meet the challenge, the largest U.S. lender has been buying. In September, JPMorgan agreed to acquire Renovite Technologies Inc, a cloud-based payments technology company, the latest in a string of deals worth $5 billion over the past 18 months. PNC Financial Services Inc in September bought Linga, a fintech focused on restaurant operations and sales. "You will see an explosion of deals" over the next year and a half, said Michael Abbott, global banking lead at Accenture. ON THE MENU Big lenders have plenty of reasons to strike deals. The slide in fintech valuations coincides with banks earning more from traditional lending businesses as interest rates rise. Fintech transactions may be easier to clinch compared with bank mergers, which have been delayed by scrutiny from regulators. "Management teams and boards have redirected some of their focus to non-bank opportunities," said Brennin Kroog, a managing director in the financial institutions group at Lazard. Those include digital tools for wealth or treasury management and point-of-sale financing. Fintech deals enable banks to buy new technology or products instead of developing them in-house. Acquisitions can also be defensive moves into other businesses outside of lending, like travel services. Not all sellers will find a buyer. Some banks have shunned buy-now, pay-later companies amid concern over their lending portfolios and the possibility of regulation. Crypto providers were already considered unattractive because of regulatory uncertainty, even before FTX's collapse. Even with better conditions, striking deals isn't easy. PNC, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, looked at over 50 potential acquisitions this year and finally landed on one firm, CEO Bill Demchak told Reuters. However, as "valuations have come way down, our activity level might be higher," he said. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar and David French in New York; Additional reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Anna Driver) By Saeed Azhar and David French