Avaloq, a Switzerland based leading provider of fintech software to banks around the world, is considering an IPO in the near future. Avaloq’s CEO Juerg Hunziker told Reuters that “We want to go in that direction in the next two to four years.”
Avaloq was founded in 1985 as an IT subsidiary of BZ Bank and remained part of BZ Bank until 2001 when employees acquired 100% of Avaloq’s capital stock. Today, with a staff of over 2,000 from 66 countries, Avaloq provides 158 banks around the world with SaaS (software as a service) and BPaaS (business process as a service) solutions.
Avaloq’s adjusted EBITDA for 2018 was 90 million Swiss francs ($91.6 Million USD) on a revenue of 579 million Swiss francs ($589.5 Million USD). EBITDA as a percentage of revenue currently sits at around 17 percent. A figure the company hopes to raise to 25 percent in the near future. Year-over-year revenue at Avaloq grew by 6% in 2018.
Private equity firm Warburg Pincus owns 45% of Avaloq and the rest is split amongst the company’s employees and founder. There’s no question Warburg Pincus would want an eventual exit, be it an IPO or an acquisition.
Last month, in an interview with finews.com, Juerg Hunziker also mentioned that a partnership or a trade sale may be a possibility in place of an IPO.
Avaloq’s nearest competitor is Temenos. Temenos is a Geneva, Switzerland based public company that also specializes in banking software. Temenos has 4,600 employees and had revenue of $846.6 million USD in 2018.
Avaloq’s founder and chairman is Francisco Fernandez. Thomas Beck is Group Chief Technology Officer. Pascal Foehn is Group Chief Operations Officer. Martin Greweldinger is Group Chief Product Officer. Dean Gluyas is Group Chief Financial Officer. Paco R. Hauser is Regional Manager EMEA. Michael Pahlke is Group Chief Service Delivery Officer. And Tobias Unger is Regional Manager Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
