Lesaka Technologies has sold its entire strake in Indian fintech company MobiKwik for R290m.
On Monday, the group said the deal had been concluded through its subsidiary, Net1 Applied Technologies, selling its entire equity interest in One Mobikwik Systems on the Indian stock exchange.
Until this transaction, Lesaka held a 8% stake in Mobikwik.
The transaction generating net cash proceeds of about $16.3m (R290m), using a prevailing exchange rate of $1 to R17.75.
Mobikwik, having been deemed noncore, had been on the chopping block for some time for Lesaka.
The group had been waiting for a contractual lock-up period related to the investment to expire on June 18 before it could dispose of the stake.
“Given that Mobikwik was deemed a noncore asset, the company’s strategic intention was to monetise its investment following the expiry of the lock-up,” the group said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Proceeds from the transaction are earmarked for “general corporate purposes, including strengthening the company’s balance sheet and reducing consolidated group debt”.
This comes just days after Lesaka announced it has signed a deal to acquire digital lender Bank Zero Mutual Bank for R1.1bn in a move that underscores its ambition to challenge SA’s traditional banking sector.
The deal will be settled through a combination of newly issued shares — shareholders of Bank Zero will own about 12% of Lesaka’s fully diluted shares at the time of completion of the proposed transaction, estimated at R1bn ($56m) — and up to R91m in cash.
Elsewhere in its universe, the group has been hard at work integrating the various businesses it has acquired recently, such as Connect Group, Touchsides, Adumo and Recharger.
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