Avaloq and Raiffeisen Switzerland are enhancing the way they cooperate and are changing their collaboration into a long-term client-supplier relationship. In line with this, Warburg Pincus is to acquire Raiffeisen’s 10% stake in Avaloq. In addition, Avaloq has reached an agreement in principle to acquire the remaining 51% of the joint venture ARIZON from Raiffeisen Switzerland as per 1 January 2019 and assuming full ownership in Arizon. Furthermore, as part of the proposed transaction, ARIZON will enter into a service agreement with Raiffeisen running until the end of 2024.

The Avaloq group, an international fintech company and a leader in integrated and comprehensive banking solutions, today announced that it will bolster its existing partnership with Raiffeisen Switzerland into a value additive, long-term and pure client-supplier relationship. As part of the agreement, and in order to establish a pure long-term client relationship, Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, will acquire Raiffeisen’s 10 percent stake in Avaloq, increasing Warburg Pincus’ ownership stake in Avaloq to 45 percent. Avaloq’s employees, management, Board of Directors and Group CEO, Chairman of the Board and founder Francisco Fernandez will remain the majority shareholders in Avaloq. Detailed financial terms are not being disclosed.

Additionally, Avaloq has reached an agreement in principle to acquire 51% of the joint venture ARIZON from Raiffeisen Switzerland as of 1 January 2019, which would give Avaloq 100% ownership of ARIZON. Founded at the end of 2014 as a joint venture between Avaloq and Raiffeisen, ARIZON’s mission is to develop and operate a universal banking platform and provide processing services for the Raiffeisen Group. Under the agreement in principle, ARIZON would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Avaloq group. ARIZON’s management would remain unchanged and there would be no reductions in headcount as a result of the transaction.

As part of the proposed transaction, ARIZON will enter into a service agreement with Raiffeisen through the end of 2024 for the further development of the banking platform and delivery of processing services. As part of a previous agreement between Avaloq and Raiffeisen Switzerland, 255 Raiffeisen banks in Switzerland will be migrated to the universal banking platform developed and operated by ARIZON.

Francisco Fernandez, Avaloq’s Group CEO and Chairman of the Board, commented, “We are delighted to take our partnership with Raiffeisen to the next level and continue to support them for the long term with our banking technology and services. We are equally pleased to assume full ownership of ARIZON, which has proven its retail banking expertise in an impressing manner under the leadership of CEO Mathias Schütz, and we look forward to further advancing the platform.”