Ageras, a leading provider of accounting software, banking, and admin tools for more than 300,000 active SME customers in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Societe Generale to acquire Shine, a leading French SME fintech. This transaction, fully in line with Ageras’ strategic plan announced with the successful €82 million raise in April 2024, would be the company’s largest acquisition to date and its eighth overall.
Reinforcing Ageras’ offering and leadership in Europe and France
With the acquisition of Shine, Ageras would strengthen its position as a leading European provider of banking and accounting software for SMEs, expanding its foothold in France, a core market for the Danish-founded fintech since its entry in 2021 with the acquisition of the leading pan-European invoicing software Zervant.
Upon completion of the transaction, the addition of Shine’s banking product would enable Ageras to service the entire lifecycle for French small businesses, from company formation to invoicing, accounting and daily banking and payments. In addition, Shine’s expertise and technological leadership within banking would strengthen Ageras’ banking activities across Europe.
This transaction would represent one of the potential two major acquisitions that Ageras is targeting to build a pan-European champion in banking and accounting software, ahead of a potential IPO in 2026. In its 2023 annual report, Ageras reported €31.7 million in revenue, a 53% increase year-on-year, marking its first profitable year.
“This would be our largest and most significant acquisition to date, moving us closer to achieving our ambition of building the ultimate financial hub for small businesses across Europe. When completed, the combination of Shine’s excellent banking product with our broad banking, accounting and business software, would enable us to deliver a complete offering of key financial solutions in France, mirroring our success in other core markets. We are truly impressed with what the Shine team has built and are looking forward to welcoming the team and together building the leading financial player for SMEs in France and across Europe,” said Rico Andersen, CEO of Ageras, which he co-founded with Martin Hegelund in 2012.
