Sources with knowledge of the matter said that German digital consumer finance bank Auxmoney is considering a range of strategic options, including either a full sale or an initial public offering. Its main shareholder, Centerbridge Partners, is working with Auxmoney’s management and other investors to evaluate the relevant proposals, but discussions are still at an early stage and no final decision has been made on whether to pursue a sale or listing.
In response, both Auxmoney and Centerbridge declined to comment. Auxmoney is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, and the potential deal is the latest example of the recent rise in mergers and capital operations in Europe’s financial sector.
As the valuations of financial institutions improve step by step, more and more private equity firms are starting to exit investments when conditions are favorable. Late last year, Blackstone Group (BX.US) agreed to sell NIBC Bank to ABN Amro, a major Dutch banking group, for about €960 million. Cerberus Capital Management is currently moving forward with the sale of Hamburg Commercial Bank; Lone Star Funds is also studying the potential sale of Germany’s industrial bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank. Lone Star also sold Portugal’s Novo Banco to France’s BPCE Group for €6.4 billion last year.
Analysts believe that, amid ongoing value recovery for European banks and financial technology companies, private equity firms are actively pushing for exits from investment projects.
Founded in 2007, Auxmoney started as a P2P (person-to-person) online lending platform dedicated to simplifying consumer-loan applications through fully digital processes.
Since 2022, the company has gradually exited its crowdfunding financing model; all of its loan funding now comes from institutional investors and securitization of assets in capital markets (ABS) financing.
At present, Auxmoney primarily provides personal loans to German consumers with amounts starting from €1,000. It uses its in-house credit scoring system to assess borrowers’ credit risk, enabling fully digital processing of the entire loan-approval workflow.
Insiders say that in recent years Auxmoney has continued to increase its use of artificial intelligence technology, with more than 95% of the loan-approval process now handled automatically by AI. At the same time, since Centerbridge’s investment, the company’s credit loss rate has fallen by roughly half.
Driven by continued business growth, Auxmoney’s average annual growth in operating revenue over the past five years has exceeded 30%.
According to the company’s financial reports, in 2024 Auxmoney achieved operating revenue of €265 million and net profit of €23 million. Its main sources of revenue include consumer-loan interest income and loan origination service fees. The company expects to release its 2025 financial performance in the autumn of this year.
In addition to Centerbridge, Auxmoney’s shareholders also include well-known venture capital firms such as Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Foundation Capital.
Last October, Auxmoney announced that it successfully raised about €950 million through the issuance of securities backed by German consumer-loan-based assets in the publicly traded fixed-income market, further strengthening its funding sources and lending capacity.
Analysts believe that, leveraging an AI-driven risk control system, steadily growing profitability, and a mature digital consumer finance model, Auxmoney has become one of the more attractive assets in Europe’s fintech sector; whether the company ultimately chooses to sell or to go public (IPO), it is expected to attract attention from capital markets.