Nigeria’s LemFi acquires Irish fintech Bureau Buttercrane

LemFi, a remittance startup, has acquired Bureau Buttercrane, the Irish currency exchange platform.

In a statement on Wednesday, LemFi announced that it had obtained regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland to acquire Bureau Buttercrane.

The deal will enable Lemfi to use its Irish licence to operate across the European Economic Area (EEA) and unlock new growth opportunities.

Ridwan Olalere, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Lemfi, said the acquisition was driven by the need to secure the right regulatory framework for the company’s expansion in Europe.

“Rather than focusing on [Buttercane’s] tech stack or profitability, the acquisition was driven by our need to secure the right regulatory framework for our expansion,” Olalere said.

“We already have the technology; this was a strategic acquisition to ensure smooth and compliant operations across Europe.

“Europe is a big, complicated market with different payment methods, rules, and preferences across countries. We’re optimistic about growth, but it’s a challenging landscape.”

The acquisition comes almost three weeks after Lemfi secured $53 million in a Series B funding round to expand its operations to new countries.

Last year, the company expanded its international payment services to Brazil and Mexico.