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European law firm Fieldfisher has advised longstanding Japanese client Glory Ltd on becoming a cornerstone investor in OneBanks, a Scotland-based fintech revolutionising everyday banking services in the UK.
The transaction, which was part of a Series A funding round, was coordinated by Fieldfisher's London venture capital (VC) practice, one of the UK's leading legal teams for early-stage fintech investment expertise.
In 2020, Fieldfisher advised on close to £140 million-worth of fintech VC transactions, from seed capital investments to growth funding injections and equity stakes.
Tokyo-headquartered GLORY Ltd. is a global leader in cash technology solutions to the financial, retail and quick service restaurant industries and is a longstanding client of Fieldfisher.
The company will become the cornerstone investor in OneBanks, which is based in Scotland and is looking to become a leading infrastructure player in the provision of everyday banking services.
OneBanks aims to fill the gap created in the UK market by the progressive withdrawal of mainstream banks from the High Street. After completing a trial of its innovative shared branch kiosks in three locations this year, OneBanks intends to begin full UK roll-out, expanding to 15 locations by the end of 2022 and 150 by 2025.
Using the recently introduced Open Banking standards, OneBanks has developed proprietary technology that enables multiple banks to offer services from a single physical location at significantly lower cost than a traditional branch. Participating banks’ customers – both personal and small business – have free access to multiple transaction types, supported by a member of the OneBanks team, recruited from the local community.
OneBanks has previously secured capital from ‘angel’ backers including Rupert Pennant-Rea, former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and Baroness Bottomley, the former Conservative cabinet minister.
On completion of the transaction, Glory will become the lead external investor with a significant minority of the enlarged capital and Javed Anjum, Glory’s head of Software Strategy & Innovation will join OneBanks' Board of Directors.
Commenting on the transaction, Fieldfisher corporate partner Tim Bird who led the legal team advising Glory, said:
"Congratulations to Glory and OneBanks on this partnership that promises to transform high street banking, democratise access to financial services and reduce costs.
"We are delighted to have supported Glory on this transaction, having previously worked with the company across our European network on a number of game-changing investments in cash technology solutions, from payment platforms in Germany to quick-service food kiosks in France.
"This is an exciting time to be in fintech and we look forward to working on future deals for innovative technologies."
Toshimitsu Yoshinari, Chief Solutions Officer at Glory Global Solutions, said:
“The mass adoption of mobile and online channels has fundamentally changed the economics of branch banking across the UK and other countries and yet consumers still value, and in many cases need, convenient access to face-to-face banking services.
"We are delighted to be making this investment in OneBanks as they seek to introduce, in partnership with the major UK banks, their new open banking-enabled approach to providing this service to communities across the UK through shared branches.”
Tim Bird was assisted on the transaction by financial markets and products director, Steven Burrows.
About Fieldfisher
Fieldfisher is a European law firm with market-leading practices in many of the world’s most dynamic sectors. We are an exciting, forward-thinking organisation with a particular focus on technology, financial services, energy & natural resources and life sciences.
Fieldfisher has 25 offices across 11 countries. The firm’s VC, private equity and M&A expertise is spread across our European, Chinese and US network.
We operate across our offices in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Belfast, Birmingham, Bologna, Brussels, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Turin, Venice and Silicon Valley.
