Investment Firm Aquila Buys Cibar to Add Trade Finance Solutions

Investment firm Aquila, a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Software, has acquired banking software solution provider Cibar to add trade finance solutions to its group of independent FinTech businesses.

Cibar was founded in 1969 and offers a comprehensive back-office solution for large and middle-market trade finance banks and their clients that handles trade finance applications, commercial and standby letters of credit, guarantees, cash letters, wire transfers and more, according to a Tuesday (Sept. 6) press release.

“Cibar has an incredibly customer-focused team and a wonderful brand in the trade finance marketplace,” Aquila CEO Daniel Lee said in the release. “They are an important addition to Aquila’s group of independent [FinTech] businesses.”

Following the acquisition, Cibar will be an autonomous business unit of Aquila.

“As we went through a detailed due diligence process, it became apparent that Aquila’s vision aligned with Cibar’s,” Cibar President Nick Mayer said in the release. “We feel this will be a great partnership for our employees and customers moving forward.”

As PYMNTS reported in August, a growing number of FinTechs are entering the trade finance space by either cooperating with banks or operating on a stand-alone basis in the supply chain finance sector, including through the provision of accounting software or invoice management tools and access to finance.

Read more: Embedded Solutions Tackle SMBs’ Trade Finance Challenges

Digitization has the potential to increase small and medium-sized business (SMB) access to trade finance process efficiency and quality.

Aquila’s acquisition of Cibar comes four months after its purchase of marketing production workflow solutions firm Comosoft, which works in multichannel media and product information management systems for B2C and B2B operations like retailers, grocery chains and more.

Read more: Aquila Buys Marketing Production Workflow Solutions Firm Comosoft

“Aquila is committed to partnering with Comosoft for the long-term,” Lee said at the time. “The business will be a critical new addition to our family of media and advertising technology companies.”