Pollen Street will buy Finastra's Universal Banking unit, giving it capital for AI and product upgrades. Finastra pivots to payments and lending after selling three businesses in two months.
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Private capital manager Pollen Street agreed to buy Finastra's global core banking software business, Universal Banking, and will back it as a standalone company. The deal, announced Friday, gives UB capital to accelerate product development, improve customer delivery, and expand capabilities, the firms said in a joint release.
The transaction needs customary regulatory sign-offs. After closing, UB will run independently under its existing management team.
UB's core banking platform, Essence, serves more than 150 customers across over 100 countries. Clients include global and regional banks, digital lenders, Islamic banks, and building societies. The platform is cloud-first and open-architecture, designed to help institutions replace legacy systems. Pollen Street's investment will target generative AI and data capabilities, the release said.
Finastra CEO Chris Walters said UB is a strong business and that under Pollen Street it will get "the dedicated focus and investment to build on that strength."
Pollen Street, founded in 2013, manages over 8 billion euros in assets and has built deep sector expertise across financial services, per the release.
Anastasia Kovaleva, a partner at Pollen Street, said UB has a solid foundation, long-standing customer relationships, a modern platform, and a strong position for the next phase of core banking. "We are excited to partner with the management team to support the next phase of the company's development, invest in AI-led innovation and help customers accelerate their modernization journeys," she said.
Walters said the sale lets Finastra "sharpen our focus on payments and lending – areas where we see significant opportunities to grow and deliver even greater value for our customers."
The divestiture is Finastra's third in recent months. The company sold its treasury and capital management business in May and its U.S. mid-market banking unit on June 4. Walters joined Finastra as CEO in January after leading Avantax, where he orchestrated that firm's sale.
For Pollen Street, the deal adds a core banking platform with global reach and a recurring revenue base. For Finastra, it completes a strategic pivot toward payments and lending, two segments where the company sees faster growth and higher margins.
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