Meridien, a US holding company which specialises in the global payment, CRM and banking industry, is to acquire a 27% stake in London fintech firm DKK Partners as it prepares to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Founded in 2020 by banking industry veterans Dominic Duru, previously of RBS and Citi, and Khalid Talukder, previously of UBS, Citi & Deutsche Bank, DKK specialises in emerging markets (EM) and foreign exchange (FX) liquidity.
The firm last raised a £3 million pre-seed round in September last year at a pre-money valuation of £100 million.
DKK has seen its flow rise to $1.3 billion in transactions in the last year with Ebitda reaching an impressive $2 million. The firm has also opened dedicated offices across all key markets, including London, Dubai, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal.
Earlier this year, DKK received initial approval from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to offer Virtual Asset Broker Dealer Services.
As part of the deal Meridien Holdings will help the firm to scale up its operations by supplying complementatary technology to help drive efficiency and distribution of its products and services. The agreement will include DKK gaining shares in Meridien alongside a multimillion-dollar cash injection to enable rapid expansion.
Erik Lara Riveros, CEO of Meridien Holdings says: “The partnership with DKK, in conjunction with our other acquisitions of listed and regulated financial institutions, is perfect for Meridien and its preparation to list on the NYSE, driving the goal of creating a revolutionary business model in the industry of global payments, banking and correspondent services.”