Neobank N26 Blows off a Major Acquisition

N26 also active in Switzerland, was looking for an acquisition that would allow its customers to trade stocks and index funds. That has reportedly fallen through.

Decision makers at smartphone bank N26 are looking for ways to cover the traditional stock and ETF business. The goal, announced by co-founder and co-CEO Valentin Stalf in October was to gain a strong foothold in the space within two years.

Now it seems the attempt to develop this service through acquisition has failed, with N26 ending negotiations with Dutch securities trader Bux before a deal could be struck, citing anonymous sources.

Reasons cited for the pullout included disagreement over management structure, the price, and the deal’s complexity. During the talks, a valuation of 100 million euros for Bux was reportedly on the table.

Bux, which cooperates with Dutch bank ABN Amro on trading systems, says it serves over 1 million customers and operates in a total of eight markets, including the Netherlands, France, and Germany.Bux declined to comment to the newspaper, saying only that it looks for interesting companies that fit its strategic goals, but generally does not comment on rumors or speculation, according to the N26 announcement.

N26 entered into a cooperation with Viennese crypto startup Bitpanda last fall to allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies.