Lesaka to acquire leading payment platform Adumo welcoming new shareholders Apis and ARC

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: LSAK; JSE: LSK) (“Lesaka”) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Adumo RF (Pty) Ltd (“Adumo”) for ZAR 1.59 billion ($85.9 million translated at the prevailing rate $1: ZAR 18.50 as of May 7, 2024). The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. The purchase consideration¹ will be settled through the combination of an issuance of 17,279,803 shares of Lesaka common stock to Adumo’s current ultimate shareholders plus ZAR 232 million ($12.5 million) in cash, funded by internal cash resources and external financing. Adumo’s ultimate shareholders include Apis Growth Fund I, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis”), African Rainbow Capital (“ARC”), the largest shareholder of Crossfin Holdings (RF) Pty Ltd (“Crossfin”), as well as the International Finance Corporation and Adumo management.

After giving effect to the acquisition, Lesaka’s ecosystem will serve 1.7 million active consumers, 119,000 merchants, and process over ZAR 250 billion in throughput (ZAR 40 billion card, ZAR 100 billion VAS and ZAR 110 billion cash) per year. The Group will have over 3,300 employees operating on the ground in 5 countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Kenya. The acquisition reinforces Lesaka’s position as natural consolidator of Southern African Fintech and will enhance our strengths in both the consumer and merchant markets and follows the successful integration of the Connect and Kazang businesses and the recent acquisition of Touchsides.

Adumo serves approximately 23,000 active merchants. Its primary operations include card acquiring, integrated payments and reconciliation services processing more than ZAR 24 billion ($1.3 billion) in throughput per year. The company’s corporate card services cover over 245,000 card holders supporting payroll, incentives, rewards, and expense management. Adumo ISV, also known as GAAP, is the largest POS and Software-as-a-Service solutions provider to the hospitality sector in Southern Africa.

Commenting on the transaction, Lincoln Mali, CEO of Lesaka Southern Africa, said: “We are thrilled to welcome the Adumo team into the Group and Adumo CEO Paul Kent onto our executive leadership team. Adumo’s customer base provides us access to more than 245,000 consumers and to payment technologies that we can incorporate into our existing operations. The pending acquisition of Adumo is another significant milestone for Lesaka as we build the top fintech platform in Southern Africa.”