Canadians acquire Portuguese startup Passworks

  • ECO News
  • 9 December 2021

Fobi Group is interested in Passworks by announcing that it "has entered into a non-binding LOI to acquire 100%" of the company's shares.

Portuguese startup Passworks is set to be bought by Fobi, a data analytics and experience personalisation company based on artificial intelligence. The company “has entered into a non-binding LOI to acquire 100% of the shares of Passworks”, Fobi announced in a statement. 

Founded by Francisco Belo, Passworks “is a mobile wallet marketing platform that allows brands to create, manage and distribute content in the form of a mobile coupon, store card, membership, loyalty card, or boarding passes via the major mobile wallet platforms, such as Apple Wallet, Google Pay or Android Wallet Apps”. The company’s investors include Faber and Portugal Ventures.

In the statement, Vancouver-based Fobi highlights Passworks’ portfolio of clients, including Hugo Boss and Wunderman Thompson. “The acquisition will be a share purchase agreement, and is expected to be completed by late December or early January of 2022,” the acquiring company points out.

For the founder Francisco Belo, the sale of the company is “the right step” to “continue growing and be part of” a larger group in this business segment: “The combination of the two technologies will create synergies, drive growth and allow us to offer Passworks and Fobi customers a much stronger and complementary offer.”

Also quoted in the statement, Fobi CEO Rob Anson stresses that this acquisition will allow Fobi to “further accelerate” its “business strategy” and increase its consolidation in the industry. However, the completion of the deal still depends on the “satisfactory due diligence by both parties”, among other regulatory factors. The amount to be paid by Fobi was not disclosed.