Fintech
Fintech firm SA Adumo acquired by Lesaka in $85.9 million deal
South African fintech firm Adumo has been acquired by counterparty Lesaka in a deal worth ZAR1.59 billion ($85.9 million), subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
Adumo is South Africa’s largest independent payments processor, assisting approximately 23,000 active merchants with operations such as card acquisition, integrated payments and reconciliation services. raise $15 million in funding from IFC in 2021has been on an acquisition spree of sorts, buying the likes of SwitchPay, WireCard, GAAP, SureSwipe, iKhokha and other smaller payment companies.
It has now been acquired on its own Lesakaa South African fintech company that uses its proprietary banking and payment technologies to provide superior financial services solutions to merchants and consumers in Southern Africa.
The acquisition price is ZAR1.59 billion (US$85.9 million), which will be settled through the combination of an issuance of 17,279,803 ordinary shares of Lesaka to Adumo’s current ultimate shareholders, plus 232 million of ZAR (US$12.5 million) in cash. Adumo’s ultimate shareholders include Apis Growth Fund I, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP; African Rainbow Capital, the largest shareholder of Crossfin Holdings; as well as the management of IFC and Adumo.
Adumo’s core operations include card acquiring, integrated payments and reconciliation services, and it serves approximately 23,000 active merchants, processing more than ZAR24 billion ($1.3 billion) in volume per year. The company’s corporate card services cover more than 245,000 cardholders supporting payroll, incentives, rewards and expense management. Adumo ISV, also known as GAAP, is the largest provider of POS and Software-as-a-Service solutions to the hospitality industry in Southern Africa.
After making the acquisition effective, Lesaka’s ecosystem will now serve 1.7 million active consumers, 119,000 merchants and process over ZAR 250 billion in productivity per year. The group will have over 3,300 employees working on the ground in five countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Kenya. The company said the acquisition strengthens its position as a “natural consolidator” of Southern Africa’s fintech and will strengthen its strengths in both the consumer and commercial markets.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Adumo team to the Group and Adumo CEO Paul Kent to our leadership team. Adumo’s customer base provides us with access to more than 245,000 consumers and payment technologies that we can incorporate into our existing operations. The ongoing acquisition of Adumo represents another significant milestone for Lesaka as we build the leading fintech platform in Southern Africa,” said Lincoln Mali, CEO of Lesaka Southern Africa.
Adumo co-founder and CEO Paul Kent said he is looking forward to joining forces with the Lesaka team and “contributing to the continued success of the Lesaka story.”
“Our combined offering will significantly enhance the customer value proposition and is a natural fit considering our respective strengths and technology offerings,” he said.