:Upbound Group said on Thursday it reached agreement on a $460 million cash-and-stock deal for Brigit, a financial technology company that has been backed by investors including the venture capital firms of actor Ashton Kutcher and basketball star Kevin Durant.
The move, confirming a Reuters story from earlier on Thursday, will help Upbound expand its product offerings to credit-poor consumers and give it access to Brigit’s data modeling and technology platform, allowing it to create more accurate customer financial profiles.
Brigit provides financial services including cash advances and credit-profile building through its subscription-based digital app. It currently has nearly 2 million monthly active customers, according to a statement announcing the agreement.
Under terms of the deal, Upbound is paying $325 million at a closing date forecast for the first quarter of 2025, of which 75 per cent is in cash and the rest in stock. There are further cash payments due over two years, some of which are dependent on Brigit achieving performance targets.
Upbound Chief Executive Mitch Fadel told Reuters the Brigit acquisition would immediately contribute to its business because the app is already profitable, but also in the ways it can interact with its customers. With only 10 per cent overlap between the two companies’ customer bases, he said, there was significant opportunity for cross-selling.
“When you have more products, you can create more lifetime customers, especially when you are helping to build their credit and access a greater array of financial products,” Fadel said.
Plano, Texas-based Upbound, whose brands include Rent-A-Center and Acima, offers consumers with low credit scores help to buy products, including furniture, electronics, and other home goods, through so-called lease-to-own agreements.
Brigit’s founders, Zuben Mathews and Hamel Kothari, will continue to run Brigit as a segment within Upbound, and Brigit will retain its existing branding, the statement said.
“By combining forces with Upbound, we can accelerate our impact and better serve the millions of Americans who have been historically underserved by traditional financial institutions,” Mathews said.
