Philadelphia Fed president, Patrick Harker, gave a speech titled, "Fintech: Revolution or Evolution?" at the University of Pennsylvania; the speech was part of a lecture series at the School of Engineering and Applied Science; Patrick Harker discussed fintech in the context of technology, business and government noting innovation in cryptocurrency, blockchain, banking and regulation. Source
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Kabbage is reportedly considering an acquisition of small business online lender OnDeck; S&P Global analyzes a potential merger between the two firms which has high value deal prospects including combined 2016 SME loan originations of $3.82 billion, costs savings from similar balance sheet and securitization funding sources, and similar success in technology licensing partnerships, overall resulting in increased margins, earnings and more competitive terms to borrowers; the valuation metrics and negotiation factors are the main constraints to a potential deal; the minimum enterprise value reported by S&P Global is $291.7 million which is below its current market cap of $372.4 million and far below its original IPO valuation of $1.3 billion; key factors to watch for 2017 will be OnDeck's forecasted EBITDA and fundraising obtained by Kabbage. Source
New York-based hedge fund Marathon Partners Equity Management LLC is actively pushing OnDeck Capital to reduce costs and reach profitability more aggressively than it has already outlined; the firm owns approximately 1.75% of the company's outstanding shares; Mario Cibelli is the primary spokesperson for Marathon Partners and says he contacted members of the board in March to urge for deeper cost reductions and analysis on a potential sale; it is likely that Marathon Partners could gain a board nomination from the discussions; OnDeck Capital could also see more involvement from hedge fund shareholder EJF Capital LLC which has said in public filings that it may also reach out to the company to discuss its future strategy. Source