United Bankers continues its acquisition strategy by acquiring Fondita

Translation: Original published in Finnish on 05/25/2026 at 07:40 am EEST

On Friday, United Bankers announced  that it is acquiring fund management company Fondita   for a fixed purchase price of 11.6 MEUR and an additional purchase price of up to 3.0 MEUR. The deal is primarily complementary to UB's offering and not strategically particularly significant. We consider the deal a slight surprise, as UB did not really need Fondita. In addition, we would have expected certain other domestic wealth managers to be willing to pay a higher price for the target. The acquisition is quite small for UB's size (around 5% of market capitalization) and will lead to positive estimate revisions for the company's near-term forecasts once the transaction is completed (subject to customary regulatory approvals).

The price tag is not staggering

The fixed price of 11.6 MEUR for the transaction implies a very low EV/EBIT multiple of around 4.6x based on Fondita's 2025 earnings (revenue 6.4 MEUR and EBIT 2.5 MEUR). This is also well below UB’s own valuation multiples (2026e EV/EBIT 12.4x). However, investors should note that Fondita's assets under management (AUM) have decreased significantly from their peak of around 900 MEUR in 2021 to around 335 MEUR at the end of April 2026. The sharp decline is due to the small-cap bear market and significant net redemptions from funds. Fondita's AUM has also decreased significantly early this year, and Fondita's current year earnings will likely be lower than last year, meaning the actual earnings multiples will be higher than the 2025 figures. Roughly, we estimate the multiples to be EV/EBIT 6-8x based on our 2026 earnings estimate. The price relative to AUM is around 3-4%, which is very moderate in relation to Fondita's funds' healthy fee structure (fee level of ~1.5%). In addition to the fixed purchase price, the sellers have the option to receive an additional purchase price of a maximum of 3.0 MEUR, which is tied to the growth of the funds' assets over the next two years.

The acquisition is complementary, not strategic

Strategically, the Fondita acquisition complements UB's selection of traditional funds, particularly with small-cap and thematic funds. However, the deal was a slight surprise to us, as UB, which relies heavily on alternative investment products, did not really need Fondita to implement its strategy, especially since the company had just acquired Fourton. After the acquisitions of Fondita and Fourton, UB's product offering in the traditional segment is very broad, and we question the company's ability to turn both Fourton's and Fondita's funds to growth while simultaneously raising capital for its recently launched proprietary products. On the other hand, the rather affordable transaction price clearly limits UB's risk level in the deal, and the broad product offering gives UB better tools to boost new sales as alternative products continue to face headwinds. In our view, the Fondita acquisition is above all a stance by UB in favor of small companies and active portfolio management.

Transaction has a positive impact on UB's financials

With our rough earnings estimates, Fondita will have a positive impact of around 10% on United Bankers' revenue and 10–15% on EBIT. Earnings based on recurring fees will also improve. In addition, AUM will increase by about 6%. In the release, United Bankers announced that it would keep its guidance unchanged for now (operational EBIT will be close to or grow from 2025), but also stated that the transaction would have a positive impact on revenue and EBIT. We consider it very possible that, with the positive market development in early 2024 and the acquisition of Fondita, the company will fine-tune its guidance slightly upwards after the deal closes.

In the future, acquisitions must be financed with own shares

The purchase price will be paid approximately 90% in cash and 10% in new shares. While the transaction is not very large for UB, it practically means that the company's excess cash on its balance sheet has now been fully put to work. In the future, potential new acquisitions, particularly international ones, will likely require the use of own shares as a means of payment. This is not a problem for UB, and in our view, the company is still looking for acquisition targets in the international market.

We note that we feel Fondita would have been an excellent strategic fit, for example, for Alexandria or Titanium, which would have desperately needed such a target to implement their own strategies. We are therefore somewhat surprised that UB acquired Fondita at these multiples, as it would have been justified for several other players to pay a higher price for the target from a strategic perspective.