French investment fintech company Shares has entered exclusive negotiations with Société Générale to potentially acquire 100% of Treezor (Shares). Treezor is a French banking-as-a-service platform that calls itself the "Unicorn Farmer" for powering the early growth of fintech companies like Qonto, Lydia, Swile, and Shine. The proposed transaction is subject to definitive agreements and regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Shares was founded in 2021 and has raised $90 million to date. The company holds an investment firm license from the French banking regulator ACPR and employs 110 people. Treezor, founded in 2016 and acquired by Société Générale in 2019, operates as an electronic money institution licensed across 25 European countries. The platform has processed more than €130 billion in transaction flows and issued over 8 million cards.
From investment app to full-stack platform
The potential acquisition signals a strategic shift for Shares. The company started as a social investing app but has since pivoted toward B2B offerings. Shares Pro provides an end-to-end platform for wealth managers and financial advisors to manage client portfolios, and it also offers white-label API infrastructure for banks, insurers, and fintech companies seeking to launch branded investment services. In 2024, Shares partnered with AXA France to build a new digital employee savings platform (Shares).
Currently, Shares relies on Modulr for its payment accounts. Acquiring Treezor would transform Shares from a BaaS customer into a BaaS owner, giving the company its own EMI license, card-issuing capabilities, and infrastructure to offer embedded finance services to third parties. Shares' CEO, Benjamin Chemla, framed the ambition as building "a solid and durable group capable of delivering a full range of financial solutions," combining accounts, payments, savings, and investing.
Société Générale continues fintech divestments
The sale fits a pattern of Société Générale divesting fintech subsidiaries. The bank recently sold Shine, the freelancer neobank that also ran on Treezor infrastructure, to Danish platform Ageras (PR Newswire).
Treezor faced regulatory scrutiny in April 2024, when the ACPR fined it €1 million for deficiencies in anti-money laundering controls (ACPR). The regulator noted significant remediation efforts since. But the BaaS landscape has shifted considerably since Société Générale acquired Treezor. With compliance costs rising and regulatory requirements intensifying across Europe, is now the time for Société Générale to exit this increasingly complex business?
My take
Should this deal go through, several questions remain open: What happens to Treezor's existing clients? Will Shares migrate its own products from Modulr to Treezor? And what will the combined company focus on?
My guess is that Shares will continue to support most current Treezor partners and replace Modulr in markets where Treezor can offer local IBANs. But I would also assume a change in strategic focus for Treezor. Shares wants to acquire Treezor to enhance its investment offering, suggesting that pure BaaS and non-financial brands may no longer be Treezor's primary targets. Likely, this will be fintech companies and financial institutions that need both investment and payments.
Thanks to reader Shaul David for the tip.
