Octet, the private Australian fintech company providing a B2B supply chain management and financing platform focused on SME, has received approaches from strategic and private equity investors but is determined to independently continue its international expansion, said MD and owner Clive Isenberg.
Octet, the private Australian fintech company providing a B2B supply chain management and financing platform focused on SME, has received approaches from strategic and private equity investors but is determined to independently continue its international expansion, said MD and owner Clive Isenberg.
The Sydney-based company is not looking for funding and has therefore not engaged with interested parties. It would however consider approaches by a strategic suitor that could give the company access to the B2B supply chain management of financing for SME, he said.
He pointed at the 2002 acquisition of PayPal by EBay as an example of such a beneficial strategic’s involvement, both regarding access to market and brand recognition.
The company is currently focused on expansion in existing markets and possible entry in new ones, specifically Europe, he said. It currently operates in Australia, China, Canada, US and Turkey via licensing agreement with financial institutions.
In China, the company has an existing partnership with Bank of Nanjing and has recently signed a new licensing agreement with another local player that will use an Octet-enabled platform to allow its customers to manage and pay international suppliers. In Australia, the company has an agreement with Westpac. European expansion will be explored by Octet’s representatives in Turkey and Spain, he said.
The platform has been operating since 2008 and is recording in excess of AUD 500m annual transaction volumes, he said.
Octet provides a trading card and online portal allowing buyers and sellers to verify and authorise each step of a trade transaction, according to the company’s website. It is used in more than 60 countries, Isenberg said.
Isenberg was the founder of soon-to-be-listed Scottish Pacific, which he sold to St. George Bank in 2000.
As published in Mergemarket by Davide Schiappapietra in Sydney
