Today in European Tech: The SPAC is back with Babylon's $4.2 billion merger and eToro's draft filing, the EU's digital ID wallet, and more

Today in European Tech: The SPAC is back with Babylon's $4.2 billion merger and eToro's draft filing, the EU's digital ID wallet, and more

Hello!

Here's what happened today in European Tech.

Deals

- Just when you thought the SPAC had been played out, London-based healthtech company Babylon confirms the rumours and announces its plan to go public via a $4.2 billion merger with Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp.

- Israeli/British brokerage firm eToro is one step closer to its SPAC listing, which will value it at roughly $10 billion, after filing a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its merger with blank-cheque company FinTech Acquisition Corp.

- Prosus, one of Europe's most valuable tech companies, has struck a $1.8 billion deal to acquire Stack Overflow, an online community for software developers, in a bet on growing demand for online tech learning.

- File-sharing platform WeTransfer plans to seek a valuation of about €1 billion euros from a proposed IPO later this year, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

- Belgium-born IT asset management platform Lansweeper has raised €130 million from Insight Partners.

- Suma Capital, a private equity fund manager specialised in medium-sized companies and projects, and with a systematic strategy of responsible investment (impact and ESG), has closed its new fund: SC Growth Fund II, with €160 million in capital commitments.

- Mail.ru Group is in the process of fully acquiring the game streaming startup Playkey. Through this acquisition, the LSE-listed Russian Internet major intends to “develop Playkey solutions within My.Games Cloud and scale cloud gaming in Russia.”

- We also tracked a large number of (other) European tech funding rounds and M&A transactions, all of which we are putting in a handy list for you on Friday afternoon in our weekly roundup newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only). Also check out our European tech news section for ongoing coverage.

Worth Reading/Knowing

- The European Commission announced plans for a digital identity wallet to allow Europeans to access public and private services via their mobile phone as the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for user-friendly online services.

- Joe Biden wants to secure a political agreement with the European Union to restore confidence in data flowing across the Atlantic when he meets leaders in Brussels on June 15, according to five people with knowledge of the talks.

- Many cryptocurrency firms are not meeting Britain's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules, the country's financial watchdog said today, showing how some parts of the emerging sector are struggling to meet required standards.

- The US government has announced that it is suspending for six months punitive tariffs on Britain, India and four European nations while it works to resolve a dispute over digital services taxes.

- Tech.eu Podcast: Telemedicine is here to stay — with Johannes Schildt, CEO of Kry.

- VC funds Frst and Fabric Ventures are teaming up to create Le Crypto Fellowship. With this program, the two firms want to find the next 10 crypto entrepreneurs in France.

- EU lawmakers are to battle over whether online platforms should be required to open their algorithms to scrutiny, making them accountable for fundamental rights violations, after the European Parliament published its initial revisions to the planned Digital Services Act. The new blueprint also includes stronger opt-in and enforcement measures.

- Israeli payments-as-a-service platform Rapyd has launched a venture arm to invest in early-stage fintech startups.

- The global digital race is on and the EU is on the list of participants. Do we dare bet on winning? Three European Parliament lawmakers explain how Europe should proceed.

- Germany announced it will invest €350 million in cybersecurity research in the next five years to boost the country’s digital security and technology sovereignty in the field.

- SAP has an ambitious plan to integrate its disparate supply chain networks with the launch of SAP Business Network.

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