JOHANNESBURG, October 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (“Lesaka” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: LSAK; JSE: LSK) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Adumo RF ( Pty) Ltd (“Adumo”). The transaction was settled by the issuance of 17,279,803 ordinary shares of Lesaka and a cash payment of ZAR232.2 million ($13.4 million), implying a total purchase consideration of 1.67 billion ZAR ($96.2 million) using Lesaka’s closing price of October 1, 2024. Johannesburg Stock Exchange of ZAR 83.05 per share. All amounts in this release have been converted to US dollars at the October 1, 2024 closing exchange rate of $1:ZAR17.34.
The acquisition of Adumo, South Africa’s largest independent payment processor with over 20 years of experience in payment solutions, strengthens Lesaka’s position as Southern Africa’s natural fintech consolidator . The acquisition strengthens the company’s strengths in its consumer and merchant markets and follows the successful integration of the Connect and Kazang businesses and the recent acquisition of Touchsides.
Lincoln Mali, Lesaka CEO for Southern Africa, said: “The Adumo transaction is an exciting addition to the Lesaka story. This significantly enhances our technology platform, adding customers, solutions and significant scale. Lesaka’s full-service fintech platform will serve 1.7 million active consumers, 120,000 merchants and process over ZAR270 billion in debit (ZAR45 billion per card, ZAR105 billion VAS and ZAR120 billion in cash) per year in our connected ecosystem as we facilitate the digitalization of commerce in our markets. The Group will have more than 3,300 employees operating on the ground in 5 countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Kenya.
“I would like to extend a warm welcome to all Adumo employees, as well as Adumo Managing Director, Paul Kent, who is joining our management team. Paul will assume responsibility for our merchant pillar. I would also like to welcome Dean Sparrow, Managing Director of Crossfin, who joins our board as a non-executive director, as well as our new shareholders – Apis Growth Fund I and African Rainbow Capital, the largest shareholder of Crossfin.
Adumo CEO Paul Kent said: “We are delighted to join the Lesaka Group, creating a Southern African fintech of significant scale, with leading positions across multiple verticals. Our businesses are a natural fit with the combined set of solutions, delivery network and technologies that position us perfectly to take advantage of digitalization across our economy. We continue to innovate and expand the overall range of products and services offered to our merchants to solve their problems.
Steve Heilbron, Head of Corporate Development at Lesaka, added: “This is an exciting day for us and the customers we serve. The integration of the Adumo business into the fold is a historic transaction for Lesaka. The acquisition significantly expands our product offering to our customers and deepens our penetration in the merchant and consumer segments. This will accelerate our growth profile. The combined scale and solutions of our fintech platform significantly enhance our ability to innovate and disrupt while providing a beachhead to new market opportunities. There is a strong alignment of culture and values between Lesaka and Adumo, and we look forward to integrating our teams. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Paul Kent to Lesaka. We are very happy to have Paul and his team among us.
Repurchase of shares from indirect shareholders of Adumo
In order to fulfill one of the conditions of the transaction, Lesaka agreed to purchase 2,601,410 ordinary shares, through a wholly owned subsidiary, for ZAR207.2 million ($12.0 million) , or ZAR79.66 per share, in order to provide cash liquidity to a group of indirect shareholders of Adumo who were unable to receive Lesaka shares as part of their mandates investment. The purchase is expected to be finalized in early October 2024.
About Adumo
Adumo is South Africa’s largest independent payment processor with over 20 years of experience, offering integrated payment solutions that simplify transactions for businesses of all sizes. Adumo serves approximately 23,000 active merchants with operations in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Kenya. For over two decades, Adumo has facilitated physical and online commerce between retail merchants and end consumers by offering a unique combination of payment processing and integrated software solutions, which currently include in-app payments, in-app payments, reconciliation services, merchant loans and customer engagement. tools, card issuance program management and data analysis.
Adumo operates through three businesses, which provide payment processing and integrated software solutions to different end markets:
- The Adumo Payments business provides payment processing, integrated payments and reconciliation solutions to small and medium sized merchants (“SMEs”) in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, and also manages issuance programs cards to corporate clients such as Anglo American and Coca-Cola;
- Adumo ISV, also known as GAAP, has operations in South Africa, Botswana and Kenya, and customers in 21 other countries, and is the leading provider of point-of-sale software and hardware integrated solutions for the hospitality industry in Southern Africa. , serving clients such as KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Nando’s and Krispy Kreme; And,
- The Adumo Ventures business offers e-commerce solutions (Adumo Online), multi-channel cloud-based point-of-sale solutions (Humble) and an aggregated payment and credit platform for in-store and online commerce (SwitchPay ) to traders and SMEs. corporate clients in South Africa and Namibia.
Adumo generates the majority of its revenue from per-transaction fees calculated as a percentage of transaction value and software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) subscription fees charged to merchants. As of June 30, 2024, Adumo employed approximately 950 employees across Southern Africa.
About Lesaka (www.lesakatech.com)
Lesaka Technologies (Lesaka™) is a South African Fintech company focused on providing financial services and software to underserved consumers (B2C) and merchants (B2B) in Southern Africa, improving people’s lives and increasing financial inclusion in the markets in which we operate. We offer a wide range of solutions including transactional (banking) accounts, loans, insurance, cash management solutions, card acceptance, supplier payments, software services and bill payments. By providing a full-service fintech platform in our connected ecosystem, we facilitate the digitalization of commerce in our markets.
Lesaka has a primary listing on NASDAQ (NasdaqGS: LSAK) and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE: LSK). Visit www.lesakatech.com for more information about Lesaka Technologies (Lesaka™).
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are subject to the safe harbor created by these sections and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such statements may be identified by the use of terms or expressions such as “expects”, “estimates”, “projects”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “could”, ” would”, “could”, “will”, “intentions”, “prospects”, “focus”, “research”, “potential”, “mission”, “continue”, “goal”, “target”, “objective” , their derivations and similar terms. and sentences. Forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially. those set forth in, contemplated by or underlying the forward-looking statements. In this press release, statements regarding future financial results and future financing and business opportunities are forward-looking statements. Additional information regarding factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement is contained in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, as filed with the SEC, as well as in other documents we have filed or will file with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release, to revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.
Investor Relations Contact:
Philippe Welthagen
E-mail: phillipe.welthagen@lesakatech.com
Mobile: +27 84 512 5393
Media Relations Contact:
Ian Harrison
E-mail: ian@thenielsennetwork.com
