The N26 founder, Maximilian Tayenthal, wants to borrow shares in Neobank for a bank loan.
Maximilian Tayenthal, co-founder of N26, is seeking a loan from Austrian private bank Schelhammer Capital Bank, using his company shares as collateral. An invitation to an extraordinary general meeting in early July revealed that Tayenthal plans to pledge part of his shares in N26 in exchange for the loan. The loan approval is expected to be granted during the meeting. The collateral will consist of around 3,000 no-par shares, representing approximately two percent of N26’s total shares. This practice is not uncommon, particularly among publicly traded companies, with Elon Musk being a prominent example of borrowing against his Tesla shares.
Typically, privately held startups do not disclose such transactions. N26 has distanced itself from the loan arrangement, stating that the pledging of shares aims to optimize the capital structure of a private company and is unrelated to the bank’s activities.
It is speculated that Tayenthal, a 42-year-old fintech executive, will utilize the loan to invest in other startups or make alternative investments. He is known as one of the most active business angels in the German-speaking world and has an extensive investment portfolio through his company, Tayenthal Ventures UG. Some notable investments include Aitme, a robotics startup for kitchens, Upvest, a banking startup, the Austrian money investment app Beatvest, and even a Berlin music club. To date, Tayenthal Ventures UG has registered 22 investments.
The loan amount that Tayenthal will receive from the bank in exchange for his shares remains a matter of interest. Based on previous financing rounds, the share package was valued at approximately $180 million, considering N26’s $9 billion valuation. However, recent reports from the Financial Times suggest that N26 investor Allianz X is seeking buyers for its N26 shares at a valuation of only $3 billion. In this scenario, the value of the shares would be $60 million. Nonetheless, the bank is likely to consider an even lower value as collateral. Overall, Tayenthal still owns around 9.5 percent of N26.