Goldman to buy speciality lender GreenSky for $2.2bn

Goldman to buy speciality lender GreenSky for $2.2bn

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Goldman Sachs has agreed to buy online loans provider GreenSky for $2.2bn, as the New York investment bank further deepens its shift towards becoming a more traditional lender with stable revenues.

The US investment bank will pay GreenSky shareholders the equivalent of $12.11 per share in stock, a more than 50 per cent premium to the company’s current share price. GreenSky shareholders will receive 0.03 of Goldman Sachs common stock per share. 

GreenSky, a fintech platform which provides loans for one-time expenses such as building work, saw its share price increase by 52 per cent in pre-market trading.

It is the second multibillion-dollar acquisition by David Solomon, Goldman’s chair and chief executive, in less than a month, highlighting his intention to transform Wall Street’s most revered investment bank into a more consumer-focused financial institution. 

Goldman’s asset management unit acquired Dutch insurer NN Group for €1.6bn last month to expand the bank’s presence in Europe. The acquisition of GreenSky is the largest carried out by Solomon since he took over in 2018.

Since launching its consumer bank Marcus five years ago, Goldman has been consistently diversifying its portfolio and investing