Dutch fintech Mollie is set to acquire UK payments startup GoCardless in a €1.1bn deal, the companies announced today, confirming Sifted reporting from August.
Founded in 2011 by Hiroki Takeuchi, Matt Robinson and Tom Blomfield, London-based GoCardless has raised more than $600m in funding from investors including Passion Capital, Accel and Balderton. It was last valued at $2.1bn after raising a $312m Series G funding round in 2022 led by Permira.
As Sifted previously reported, the UK fintech had been in discussions with multiple potential acquirers since the start of the year. Swedish open banking fintech Trustly was at one point the frontrunner before walking away from the deal, paving the way for Mollie to enter the picture.
GoCardless has been making a push to reach profitability by the end of this year, CEO Takuechi told Sifted in February. The payments fintech The tie-up between GoCardless and Mollie is one of the most high-profile acquisitions in the fintech sector in recent years. The deal, which is expected to be finalised mid-2026, will see their customer bases merge together to serve 350k people in total, allowing Mollie to access GoCardless’ focus on bank payments to its product portfolio. The UK payments company primarily makes money by taking a transaction fee for facilitating direct debit payments for businesses.
“This deal brings together two highly complementary businesses that have built best-in-class products across Europe and beyond,” Takeuchi said in a statement.
“By combining our expertise in card, bank and hyperlocal payments into one provider, we can better serve our customers, accelerate growth and raise the bar for the industry. It’s a win for European fintech and we’re confident that the new company will be greater than the sum of its parts.”
