A prominent British fintech is in talks with rival suitors, including Africa’s largest payments technology company, about a sale that would take place at a steep discount compared to a previous funding round.
Sky News has learned that Railsr, which was previously known as Railsbank, is receiving offers from potential buyers, including Flutterwave, which has attracted a multi-billion dollar valuation.
The sources said that a consortium made up of several existing Railsr investors was also vying to acquire the company, which specializes in so-called integrated finance solutions such as banking, credit cards and digital wallets.
One source said there was “strong competition for the asset.”
The news of rival bids for Railsr comes as expectations of a wave of consolidation in the fintech sector rise as companies struggle to access enough independent funds to survive.
Railsr itself raised a bridge funding round late last year that was designed to provide enough capital to drive it to a sale.
The timing and outcome of the ongoing sale process were unclear on Monday.
Railsr has been working with bankers at FT Partners on a variety of strategic options including a sell-off for several months.
Last fall, the company announced the completion of a $46 million Series C financing round, though it did not publicly disclose that this was done at a valuation of around $250 million, well below the raising of previous funds.
Railsr has been on an acquisition track, having acquired assets from the collapsed German company Wirecard.
It scored a coup last year when it named Rick Haythornthwaite, former chairman of MasterCard and current chairman of Ocado and AA, as its chairman.
More recently, and like many tech colleagues, he has laid off an unspecified number of staff.
Nigel Verdon, the founder of Railsr, previously claimed that the company is “transforming the financial industry in the same way that Apple did the music industry when they created iTunes.”
Railsr has raised more than $100 million in equity funding, backed by investors including Visa.
Railsr declined to comment.
