Apax Funds back the Fibonacci Group to Acquire Quid Group from Equinox, Accelerating the Development of a Leading European Financial Software Platform

25th January 2025

• The acquisition of Quid and its subsidiary Cabel follows the carve-out of altermAInd from illimity and acquisitions of OCS and Finwave.
• These strategic transactions position Fibonacci Group, now with over 1,500 employees and revenues exceeding €210 million, as a leading player in financial software.
• With this acquisition, the Group’s operations are now structured into three business lines: Specialty Finance, Consumer Finance, and Banking Services.
• Since 2019, Equinox has supported Quid in strengthening the organisational structure and in growing through M&A, tripling its turnover and profitability.

 The Fibonacci Group (“Fibonacci” or the “Group”), controlled by Funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”), today announced the acquisition of Quid Group (“Quid”), a prominent player in consumer credit software, and its subsidiary Cabel, a provider of core banking software and banking services, from Equinox, a private equity fund investing in medium-sized Italian companies. This transaction represents the latest milestone in Apax’s strategy to create a European leader in financial software, following the acquisitions of OCS and Finwave in 2023 and the establishment of altermAInd in partnership with illimity.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Florence, Quid supports tier 1 financial institutions and specialty providers. In 2023, Quid acquired a majority stake in Cabel Industry, a company specialising in core banking and Banking-as-a-Service solutions (BaaS).

Since 2019, Equinox has supported Quid's transformation from system integrator to software house, creating the Qinetic platform. Through the Equinox ownership, the Group tripled its revenue and profits thanks to operational enhancements and organic growth.

This acquisition strengthens the Group's position by combining cutting-edge technology with extensive industry expertise to expand its software portfolio. Quid contributes cloud-native software covering the entire credit lifecycle, while Cabel expands the Group’s capabilities in BaaS and core banking software.

These strategic moves double the size of Fibonacci, reaching over 1,500 employees and €210m in revenues. 

Andrea Pettinelli, CEO of the Fibonacci Group, stated: “These strategic moves enable us to invest significantly in innovation, reinforcing our position as a leader in financial software. With Apax’s support and the expertise of our integrated management team, we are well-positioned for sustainable, long-term growth.”

Stefano Bertoli, CEO of Quid and new President of Fibonacci Group, said: “The complementarity between Quid and the Group’s existing assets accelerates our ability to deliver integrated, innovative solutions. This marks an exciting new phase, building on the strong foundations laid by Equinox during the Group’s initial growth phase.”

Gabriele Cipparrone, Partner at Apax Partners, added: “With the original investment in OCS and Finwave, the Apax Funds had the objective to build and accelerate the growth of a leading financial software provider in Europe. Following the recent acquisitions, the group is very well positioned to serve customers in specialty finance, consumer finance, and banking. Congratulations to Andrea, Stefano, and their teams on achieving this significant milestone. We look forward to supporting the continued success of the expanded team.”

Andrea Bovone, Partner at Equinox, commented: “Quid represents the perfect example of Equinox's investment philosophy: the success of combining a strong management team with exceptional technological expertise as well as the fund's ability to strengthen the corporate organisation and support a visionary entrepreneur with unique sector skills to grow their project. We are proud of the work done in recent years with Quid's management team, whom we thank for believing in the project with a vision that often went beyond traditional frameworks, and for contributing to achieving our ambitious goals to accelerate growth."

Group Overview

With this acquisition, the Group combines Quid, Cabel, OCS, Finwave, and altermAInd, structuring operations into three main business lines:

1.    Specialty Finance
The Group builds on Finwave’s deep expertise in factoring and leasing software, and it will be further enhanced by Quid’s corporate and mortgages capabilities.

2.    Consumer Finance
By integrating OCS’s comprehensive consumer credit software with Quid’s modular, cloud-native platform, the Group expands and strengthens its offering. The combined solutions provide functional depth, architectural flexibility, and seamless integration.

3.    Banking Services
The Group is an end to end outsourcing partner for banking clients, combining Finwave and Quid’s cloud-native software, altermAInd’s AI-driven solutions, and Cabel’s 450+ applications across private and public clouds.