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Goldman Sachs is investing $2.2 billion to acquire GreenSky, a fintech firm that offers fast and easy online loans. The investment bank is buying it to improve and further expand its consumer finance business.
According to CNBC, Goldman Sachs signed an all-stock deal with GreenSky that has been described as the biggest online lending platform for loans on home improvements. It was revealed that the companies’ transactions will close some time in the first quarter of 2022.
The buyout will help Goldman Sachs in strengthening its consumer finance division. This adds a new opportunity for the firm to focus on services outside of investment banking and wealth management for big entities which it is originally known for.
Its acquisition of GreenSky is also a major improvement since the company started its retail banking services just five years ago. It has expanded within that time frame and few other services were offered including personal finance and automated investing. And prior to having GreenSky in its portfolio, it has already built partnerships with Amazon, Apple, and Jetblue.
“We have been clear in our aspiration for Marcus to become the consumer banking platform of the future, and the acquisition of GreenSky advances this goal,” Goldman Sachs’ chairman and chief executive officer, David M. Solomon, said in a press release. “GreenSky and its talented team have built an impressive, cloud-native platform that will allow Marcus to reach a new and active set of merchants and customers and provide them with an expanding set of solutions. We welcome the GreenSky team to the Goldman Sachs family.”
Moreover, the New York City headquartered financial and investment bank said that aside from widening its customer base, the deal with GreenSky also grants the company access to its more than 10,000 merchants. Based on the agreement, David Zalik, GreenSky’s CEO, will be joining Goldman Sachs as one of its partners.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Goldman Sachs was actually eyeing GreenSky for years. In fact, in 2019, it considered buying the Atlanta, Georgia headquartered fintech company and there were preliminary talks already, and apparently, the talks did not progress to a deal - not until this week. Finally, with GreenSky onboard, the bank will be able to provide customers with better services related to saving, spending, borrowing, or investing.
