By Omar Faridi       

The end-to-end solution for banking technology, United Fintech has announced the 100 per cent acquisition of Cobalt, the provider of critical risk and data services to the FX and digital asset markets.

The acquisition elevates United Fintech’s position “as the leading end-to-end solution connecting financial institutions with innovative fintechs to accelerate digital transformation.”

This is United Fintech’s fifth acquisition “since launching in 2020 and has rapidly scaled its team to 150 across New York, London and Singapore.”

The acquisition of Cobalt is “in addition to the acquisitions of FairXchange, TTMZero, Athena Systems and NetDania; demonstrating the ability to scale and grow despite the slowdown in the fintech space.”

Founded in 2015, Cobalt explains that it “provides core shared ledger infrastructure for banks in foreign exchange trading and digital assets.” The company’s platform leverages blockchain-derived concepts “to create a single, shared view of every transaction and remove the need for reconciliation across siloes and multiple systems.”

This allows foreign exchange traders “to reduce credit risk and cost efficiently. Cobalt’s current customer base includes top tier banks like Deutsche Bank, Citi Bank, Barclays, BNP, Natwest, ABN Amro and Standard Chartered Bank.”

United Fintech will onboard Cobalt, its clients and employees “onto its platform while Cobalt will continue to operate as a standalone company under United Fintech.”

United Fintech CEO and founder, Christian Frahm, will be “appointed as the new Chairman of Cobalt and Cobalt’s co-founder & Chief Product Officer Andrew Coyne and CEO Darren Coote will continue to lead the business day to day.”

Founder and CEO, United Fintech Christian Frahm said: “It is incredibly exciting to welcome some of the financial industry’s accomplished leaders to the United Fintech family. Cobalt is at the forefront of critical institutional trade infrastructure for foreign exchange and digital assets, leading the field in innovation that empowers banks to keep pace with the ever-evolving capital markets.”

Christian added: “Foreign Exchange is a core part of a bank’s infrastructure today. In the future I’m convinced digital assets will become a key asset class in the sophisticated money management space, while financial institutions and banks will need a high level of expertise and know-how to thrive in the coming digital banking era. Cobalt’s technology is a great addition to the United Fintech global range of products and services and I look forward to the new phase of our growth journey together.”

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Cobalt, Andrew Coyne remarked: “I am very happy that Cobalt is now part of the United Fintech family. They will help us accelerate shared infrastructure adoption for the benefit of all market participants. This will allow our clients to access markets more efficiently, with better control and lower cost.”

Royal Park Partners “acted as exclusive financial advisor to United Fintech and its shareholders throughout the transaction.”

Managing Partner and Founder, Royal Park Partners, Aman Behzad said: “The future of fintech rests on pioneers like United Fintech, which expertly consolidates disjoined banking infrastructure and streamlines digital transformation. Cobalt’s innovation will enable United Fintech to serve the urgent demand for institutional-grade infrastructure for FX and digital assets. It’s an incredible match up of talent and infrastructure capability and a great step for the industry overall.”