For decades, banking has been the gateway to financial management for small businesses. The current account, the business relationship, access to credit constituted the entry points
Where the banks thought they would keep the interface and delegate peripheral uses to their partners, they discover that these are the software publishers which now capture value, attention and flow.
The daily life of SME managers and CFOs involves a mosaic of invoicing, accounting, payroll and expense management applications. Electronic invoicing, compulsory in Europe from 2026further accelerates this movement by transferring the very source of revenue to the software side. The introduction of digital reporting standards, such as those being prepared in France and Germany, also reinforces this shift in economic power.
But the most profound change lies in the data, because if the bank retains ownership of the funds, it is no longer the source of operational truth. The software has a richer and more contextual vision: accounting flows, incoming and outgoing invoices, payroll files, tax documents, supporting documents, supplier payments. This granularity is essential for building artificial intelligence models capable of automating accounting, detecting anomalies, anticipating cash flow tensions or generating tax reports in real time. And banks cannot compete in this area: their systems, their development cycles and their regulatory DNA do not allow them to build these unified environments.
It is in this context that the acquisition of Shine takes on its full meaning and Cegid gets its hands on the transactional brick that it was missing. It also complements a portfolio already deeply rooted in accounting, payroll, tax and management with the rest of AGERAS’ activities and expands its footprint in key markets such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany which are complex to penetrate
Founded in 2012 in Denmark by Rico Andersen and Martin Hegelund, Ageras has established itself as a comprehensive platform for SMEs, ranging from accounting to tax management. The startup was acquired in 2017 by the Bahraini investment fund Investcorp with the support of Coller Capital and Lazard. She has since developed a build up strategy with the acquisition of 8 companies (Billy, Tellow, Employees…), including in December 2024 that of SHINE from Société Générale for 130 million euros.
AGERAS communicated last June on 449 employees, 320,000 customers, with a turnover in 2024 of 55.5 million euros, an ebitda of 8.7 million euros and a gross margin of 90%. The company could double these figures in 2025.
Christian Lucas, President of Cegid and Managing Partner at Silver Lakecomments on this acquisition: “This combination fits naturally into Cegid’s European growth trajectory. For more than forty years, Cegid has supported accountants and small businesses. With Shine, we are strengthening this connection for the new digital era. Cegid’s leadership in cloud and AI, combined with Shine’s highly innovative platform integrating the best accounting and Pro Account capabilities, creates a player capable of helping millions of companies and accounting firms take advantage of the immense opportunities linked to the digital transformation of the next decade, particularly with the widespread use of electronic invoicing. We are proud to support Cegid’s management team in building one of Europe’s technological flagships. This merger represents a significant investment in Cegid’s long-term relationship with the accounting profession and its essential role in the success of millions of small businesses..
Although the details of the transaction have not been disclosed, the valuation of the company at more than a billion euros was confirmed to the editorial staff of FW.Media by the CEGID press service, which indicates that Shine will operate within Cegid’s Small Business division, the cornerstone of the group’s growth strategy in France and Europe for the years to come.
