Private capital is treating compliance software like toll roads. Brookfield's move on Actimize shows how fraud and anti-money-laundering tech became core financial plumbing.
Brookfield already owns ports, pipelines and power grids. Now it wants a piece of the systems banks use to catch money launderers!
The Canadian investment giant's financial infrastructure arm is in "exclusive talks to buy Actimize" from Nasdaq-listed Nice for about $2 billion, Sky News reported. Sources cautioned the deal is not finalised and could still fall apart. Brookfield declined to comment.
What Actimize does: It builds AI-driven fraud-prevention and anti-money-laundering software for financial institutions worldwide. It is the kind of compliance system banks cannot switch off.
The return on patience: Nice bought Actimize in 2007 for $280 million. A $2 billion exit would be roughly a 7x gain. The sale process has been running since late 2025, and earlier non-binding offers were reported at around $2.5 billion. The discussed price has come down.
The strategy: Brookfield's financial infrastructure arm was set up three years ago with the help of former Worldpay chief Sir Ron Kalifa. It also took a stake in Barclays' merchant-acquiring business last year. The pattern is clear: buy the recurring-revenue pipes of finance.
WBW Take: Regulation creates demand that doesn't go away. As fraud gets AI-powered, the software fighting it becomes as essential, and as sticky, as a utility. That's exactly the kind of cash flow infrastructure investors love.