Pollen Street Capital (“Pollen Street”) today announces the acquisition of Universal Banking (“UB”), a leading provider of mission-critical core banking software to over 150 financial institutions worldwide, in a carve-out from Finastra.

UB’s core banking platforms sit at the heart of its customers’ operations, powering transaction processing, account and deposit management, lending and treasury for retail, commercial and corporate banks. UB is an established player in international core banking recognised for its end-to-end offering with rich functionality and a track record of serving diverse customers ranging from global and regional institutions to digital banks, Islamic banks and building societies in over 100 countries.

Essence is UB’s next-gen, cloud-first, open platform with rich functionality, powerful APIs, advanced analytics and agile workflows – primed for GenAI integration and further expansion of offering to clients seeking increased automation. Award-winning and recognised by industry analysts as a leading platform, Essence is positioned well to continue to win in the market and to serve as the go-to future-proof platform for UB’s existing customers.

Demand for core banking modernisation continues to grow as banks look to migrate from legacy systems to improve agility and operational efficiency. UB is at the forefront of this trend, working with banks to modernise legacy systems, accelerate product innovation, reduce cost-to-serve, move workloads to the cloud, and deploy AI capabilities while delivering exceptional customer service. It also supports the needs of fast-growing challenger banks, digital startups, Fintechs, Islamic financial Institutions, and building societies.

Pollen Street’s backing will support UB through its carve-out from Finastra, strengthen its commercial capabilities, and provide the investment needed to accelerate product development and deployment of GenAI to best serve UB’s customers.

Chris Walters, Chief Executive Officer of Finastra, said: “Universal Banking is a strong business with talented people, proven products, and deep customer relationships. Under Pollen Street Capital, it will have the dedicated focus and investment to build on that strength. For Finastra, this sharpens our focus on payments and lending – areas where we see significant opportunity to grow and deliver more value for our customers.”

Anastasia Kovaleva, Partner at Pollen Street, added: “UB is a high-quality business with a strong foundation: mission-critical software, long-standing customer relationships and a clear pathway for growth through modernisation of the existing customer base and acceleration of new wins with a now proven modern platform. We are also excited about working with UB management team to deploy GenAI into banks, which we see as a very significant opportunity. UB is s exactly the type of resilient, differentiated specialist business with multiple value creation levers that we like to back.”

The acquisition reflects Pollen Street’s strategy of backing specialist financial services and technology businesses in attractive markets, with deep customer relationships, leading positions, and clear opportunities for organic and inorganic growth. UB will operate as a standalone entity led by its existing management team. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals.