Svea Bank acquires Arex FinTech operations in Finland

By Gloria Methri

AREX Markets, the Spanish FinTech company that drives down financing costs for small and medium-sized businesses, has sold its Finnish operations to the Swedish payment and financing institution Svea Bank. The agreement will strengthen Svea’s position as a corporate financier in Finland, where AREX’s 1,200 customers and partners will be transferred to the bank’s portfolio.

The Finnish operation of AREX has financed invoices worth over €500 million. Customers in Finland have been informed of the transition and their contracts and service details will be transferred to Svea.

Svea takes over the operation of AREX in the region in order to strengthen its own business and offer AREX’s partners and customers a wider range of services.

“Svea has grown a lot over the years, also through business transactions, so buying AREX’s business in Finland was a good and natural solution for us. In addition, the agreement is pleasant for us in Svea because the focus of our activities is to help partners and customers succeed – offering AREX’s partners and customers a wider range of services is exactly that, said Pasi Väre, country manager of Svea in Finland.

The agreement also enables AREX to focus on regions in the UK and Europe as it prepares to roll out integrated finance products, which can be branded by both new banks, ERPs and accounting software. The business seeks to bridge the liquidity gap that small businesses face. UK SMEs can continue to access AREX’s core invoice finance product through the Xero marketplace.

“For us at AREX, this is a great step. We are developing a stronger presence in embedded finance, which is underpinned by our sophisticated marketplace software, our forte,” said Airto Vienola, CEO of AREX.

“For the AREX team, it was extremely important that we find the best possible corporate financier to take care of the company’s customers and partnerships in Finland. Svea convinced us with their customer- and partner-centric approach”, added AREX co-founder Perttu Jalkanen.