Zelig is delighted to announce that it acted as sole financial advisor to Papara on its acquisition of Rebellion, a leading Spanish neobank. This acquisition marks the first step in Papara’s plan to expand to Europe from its home market of Turkey, where it is already the leading FinTech and payment app with over 16 million individual and 1,500 business users (including e-commerce giants such as Uber and Yandex).

As a leading neobanking platform in Spain, Rebellion has gained a strong following among the tech-savvy Y and Z generation. Via its cutting-edge app, Rebellion offers a range of financial products, including money transfers, prepaid cards and a cashback proposition.

“With this acquisition, the talented Rebellion team joins us on our journey, bringing extremely valuable expertise and knowledge for our European expansion. Together, we will embark on a path of growth, leveraging new recruits, a fresh brand identity, and the visionary outlook of Papara.

We are confident that our products, services, and vision can compete on a global scale, and Spain serves as our first milestone in this exciting adventure.

Zelig is acting as our trusted M&A advisor supporting our inorganic expansion strategy with their extensive FinTech knowledge and deep execution expertise. We have been delighted with the team’s work to date and look forward to continuing our partnership." - Ahmed F. Karsli, Founder and Chairman, Papara.

“I strongly believe Papara is the ideal partner to synergistically blend resources, business vision and passion, given the absence of a dominant player in the Spanish sector and the prevailing economic landscape. As we continue to stay on the adventure, our expertise and knowledge in the sector will grow with new recruits and Papara's vision." - Sergio Cerro, Co-Founder, Rebellion.