From left: Raisin founders Michael Stephan, Dr Tamaz Georgadze and Dr Frank Freund. Image: Lukas Schramm
The acquisition of Fairr will provide Raisin’s 200,000 customers with access to specialised pension products.
On Tuesday (27 August) German fintech firm Raisin announced its intention to acquire pension specialist Fairr.
This is Raisin’s third acquisition, after the start-up acquired PBF Solutions in September 2017 and MHB Bank in March 2019.
The German business, which received a €25m investment from Goldman Sachs in July, said that the new acquisition will allow its 200,000 customers to have access to specialised pension products.
In a statement, the company said: “Through this strategic acquisition, Raisin will get access to the €12tn European pension and retirement savings market and become the only platform worldwide to offer its customers access to savings, investments and pensions products – all on one online marketplace with one simple registration.”
Fairr, which describes itself as “the leading European start-up for retirement savings”, said that is it “taking on the complexity of the heavily-regulated German pension market”.
The fintech firm offers access to German state-backed subsidised pension scheme Riester and supplementary pension scheme Rürup, as well as company pension schemes. It also provides users with a ‘pension cockpit’, which enables them to have “a holistic overview of their retirement savings”.
Changes
Following the acquisition, Fairr’s three founders will take on leading roles in the newly formed investments and pension products division at Raisin. This division will include Raisin’s existing investment product line, WeltInvest, which is currently only available in Germany.
The rest of the Fairr team will join Raisin, and the acquiring company will gain 100pc of Fairr’s share capital for an undisclosed cash sum. TechCrunch reports that this figure is in “double-digit euro millions”.
Fairr co-founder Jens Jennissen said: “For consumers, retirement savings are still a very opaque, dusty, cost-intensive business.
“With Raisin’s access to the market we will be able to expand our reach significantly and continue to revamp the retirement savings market. We’re proud of what our team has achieved over the last six years and are very excited about our future together with Raisin.”
Raisin CEO and co-founder Dr Tamaz Georgadze added: “The Fairr team has written a remarkable success story, translating and simplifying products like Riester and Rürup for the digital age.
“Through the takeover we will be able to expand our product offering specifically around the important aspects of retirement saving. Together we want to grow and bring new momentum to the sector. Next to bank deposits, retirement savings is the most important asset class for individuals, with a volume of €2 trillion in Germany alone.”
