(News Bulletin 247) – By joining forces with Iris Financial, the French credit specialist will become a company listed on both Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris.

A new company will soon arrive on the stock market, in rather unusual ways.

The French credit specialist Younited (formerly Prêt d’union) announced this Monday its merger with the company Iris Financial, already listed on Euronext Amsterdam since April 2022.

The Younited group is a regulated player in European consumer credit having supported more than 1.2 million customers in the European Union since its launch in 2011. For its part, Iris Financial is a European company specializing in financial services .

As part of this union, the French group will become a subsidiary of Iris Financial. An application for an additional listing on the Paris Stock Exchange will be filed in addition to that on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. This will be a new company to join the Paris Stock Exchange through an additional listing. At the end of September, medtech Onward Medical took its first steps on the stock market on Euronext Paris, three years after a first double listing in Brussels and Amsterdam.

The merger between Younited and Iris Financial will be implemented as follows: Younited shareholders will contribute their shares to Iris Financial, which will own 100% of Younited. In return, they will receive new shares issued by Iris Financial which will be admitted to the Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam markets.

At the end of this merger, Iris Financial will also inject between 150 million and 200 million euros in capital into the company Younited, in return for the issue of new shares by Younited. This would allow the latter to strengthen its CET1 regulatory capital (which relates banks’ capital to the risk-weighted outstanding balance).

A reconciliation at the end of the year

“The current shareholders and management of Younited are expected to hold 60% of the combined entity and the shareholders of Iris Financial (…) are expected to hold 40% of the pro-forma capital at the end of the transaction, in the “hypothesis where Iris Financial injects 150 million euros”, explains Younited.

This combination, which was unanimously approved by the supervisory board of Younited and the board of directors of Iris Financial, is expected to be completed during the current quarter, subject to the approval of Iris shareholders. Financial and the satisfaction of other regulatory and customary conditions precedent.

Iris Financial’s investment will enable Younited to continue and accelerate its growth strategy, thanks to the significant strengthening of its balance sheet, with the objective of generating a positive net result by the end of 2025, a significant growth in origination (issuance) of loans and a return on equity greater than 25% by 2027, assuming that Younited is fully owned by Iris.

If this merger goes through, Iris Financial will change its name to “Younited Financial”.