FNB has provided almost R50m to advisory and investment firm Moshe Capital to enable the black-women-owned firm to take a 20% stake in engineering services company, Pragma Holdings.
The transaction is being funded through FNB’s Black Business Growth Funding (BBGF) Transformational Equity Initiative, a project housed within its structured finance division, and will give Moshe Capital an engineering services investment foothold. Moshe Capital was founded in 2013 and provides corporate finance advisory services while targeting private equity and proprietary investments in African companies.
“We are very excited about the potential of this strategic deal and, more importantly, being impactful in the development of black fund managers in SA, as well as accelerating growth in black women owned investment businesses,” said Daniella Keet, a structured finance executive at FNB. “Moshe Capital’s investment in Pragma will transform the company’s shareholding to achieve 30% black women ownership and [be] more than 50% black owned.”
The Moshe Capital deal is the second transaction to be funded by FNB through its BBGF Transformational Equity Initiative, which has a capital commitment of R400m and aims to help black-owned businesses unlock investment opportunities.
SA-headquartered Pragma Holdings was established in 1990 and provides engineering services to local and international companies in the mining, manufacturing, public infrastructure, retail, renewable energy, and oil and gas sectors. Moshe Capital says it was attracted by Pragma’s strong management team and digital solutions as well as the depth of its industry knowledge in software tailored to provide physical enterprise asset management solutions.
“Moshe Capital’s strong mining experience was very important for Pragma when seeking a strategic private equity investor, given the overlap with their clients being mainly in the mining, manufacturing, distributed facilities, and original equipment manufacturing sectors,” said Keet.
Moshe Capital CEO Mametja Moshe says the investment in Pragma forms part of the firm’s goal of helping to transform the mining sector by boosting the representation of previously disadvantaged groups. The firm is already invested in Mining Minerals & Metals, a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) that listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2020.
“The investment in Pragma fits with our investment strategy of investing in mining services and products in SA to transform the sector to have more representation of black-women with a deep understanding of mining and financial services whilst assisting investee companies to grow and meaningfully contribute to the SA economy,” said Moshe.
Adriaan Scheeres, CEO and co-founder of Pragma, said the company had been looking for an equity investor that would help support the company’s pioneering work in the digitalising enterprise asset management.
“Finding an investment partner who understands the significance of our solutions and the positive impact it has on the sustainability of business operations was crucial”, said Scheeres. “Ultimately this investment will align with Pragma’s goal of providing a support mechanism for the empowerment and transformation of women in the engineering field.”
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