Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) is advising Berlin-based fintech company Penta and its shareholders on the acquisition of Penta by French fintech Qonto. The transaction is expected to close in the next few weeks.

Founded in 2017, Penta is a leading provider of digital business finance solutions for small- and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), the self-employed and freelancers. The company serves 50,000 customers in Germany and counts 200 employees, mainly based in Berlin and Belgrade.
Qonto is the European market leader in business finance solutions for SMEs and the self-employed with more than 250,000 customers in four markets (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) and more than 700 employees.

Freshfields is advising Penta and its shareholders on all legal aspects of the transaction. The Freshfields team is being led by global transactions Partners Lars Meyer (Corporate/M&A, Berlin) and Guillemette Burgala (Corporate/M&A, Paris), as well as Principal Associate Laura Frühauf (Corporate/M&A, Berlin). The Freshfields team further comprised Jules Troubat (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Paris), Alexander Schramm (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Berlin), Stephan Reemts (Principal Associate, Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Aia Eid (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Paris), Nicolas Altmeyer (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Alexander Schwahn (Partner, Tax, Hamburg), Tobias Franz (Associate, Tax, Hamburg), Merit Olthoff (Partner, Antitrust, Brussels), Sebastian Pritzkow (Principal Associate, Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Markus Benzing (Partner, Regulatory, Frankfurt), Marc Perrone (Partner, Regulatory, Paris), Eloi Roche (Associate, Regulatory, Paris), Daniel Klingenbrunn (Associate, Regulatory, Frankfurt), Theresa Ehlen (Partner, IP, Düsseldorf), Marius Li-Yang Stein (Associate, IP, Frankfurt), Jérôme Philippe (Partner, Antitrust, Paris), Christel Cacioppo (Partner, Employment, Paris) and Kenza El Azzaoui (Associate, Employment, Paris).