Ashfords has advised Form3, the leading cloud-native payment technology provider for banks and regulated fintechs on a $33 million strategic equity investment. The new shareholders include Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society and venture capital firm; 83North. Draper Esprit has also re-invested following its participation in November 2018. The Company’s other investors include Barclays Bank and Angel Co-Fund.

Ashfords also advised the company on its on its partnership with Lloyds Banking Group to accelerate its digital transformation.

Form3 also welcomes Penny Hughes CBE to the Form3 Board as a Non-Executive Director. Penny has been a Director at well-known brands including Coca-Cola, Vodafone and Reuters and more recently a Non-Executive Director at RBS and Chair of Aston Martin.

Form3’s cloud-native, API platform delivers technical connectivity and managed services to address critical payments infrastructure challenges facing banks and Fintechs globally.  The funding will strengthen Form3’s market leading cloud-native payment technology, building significant functional enhancements and accelerating their global expansion plans in existing and new markets.

Giles Hawkins, Corporate Partner in Ashfords' Technology team said “We are delighted to have supported Form3 in its successful completion of a strategic partnership investment round with Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society and 83North. This deal is the culmination of over 12 months of negotiation and marks the next stage of Form3’s growth and maturity in delivering highly secure, best in class technology for major financial institutions globally. We look forward to accompanying Form3 on their impressive and continued growth journey in the UK and beyond. They are an innovative business with an exciting future.”

Giles Hawkins led on corporate aspects of the transaction, whilst Suzie Miles led on the commercial aspects. The Ashfords team included Charlotte Holgate (Data Protection), Charles Pallot (Employment), Ed Hopkins (Employment), Okachi Kejeh (Corporate), Iona Jones (Corporate), Chris Sutoto-Haywood (IP) and Cynthia Ma (Financial Services Regulation).