Zopa, the UK-based digital bank, is plotting a swoop on parts of a fintech rival days after raising £75m from investors to accelerate its growth.

Sky News has learnt that Zopa is targeting some of the assets of DivideBuy, a buy now pay later provider which is backed by Davidson Kempner Capital Management, the major US-based investor.

The status and terms of talks between them was unclear on Wednesday evening and it remained possible that a deal would not be struck.

DivideBuy secured a £300m borrowing facility from Davidson Kempner in September 2021 as part of a deal that also included a minority equity investment.

Zopa’s interest in parts of its fellow British fintech has emerged just a week after it confirmed that it had raised £75m from existing shareholders.

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The funding round saw the stake held by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 marginally diluted after the Japanese investor opted not to participate, according to insiders.

A spokesperson at Zopa Bank said: “Acquisitions form part of the growth journey of most technology firms looking to scale, and feature in the regular menu of options that support accelerated growth.

“While we don’t have something official to announce just yet, Zopa is well positioned to explore M&A as it has always focused on strong unit economics and monetisation.

“Additionally, with a banking licence and a multi-product eco-system it has diversity of revenue and funding, as well as strong products that have high growth rates.”

Zopa was founded in 2004 and became a pioneer in the burgeoning peer-to-peer sector.

It has since pivoted to focus on more mainstream banking services.

It experienced a rocky period in 2019, however, and was forced to scramble to raise £140m in order to avoid losing its fledgling banking licence.

New investors in that round were led by IAG Capital Partners, a US-based private investment firm, while it has also been backed by existing long-term shareholders such as the listed group Augmentum Fintech.

DivideBuy could not be reached for comment.

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