Optasia, the company aiming for the largest stock market flotation of a fintech group on the JSE, has indicated a sale of shares that could be worth as much as R8bn.
On Monday, the Dubai-founded group announced the offer price range for the initial public offering (IPO) at R15.50 to R19.00 per share. Up to 419.8-million shares will be made available, representing 30.4% of its issued share capital.
This would indicate a capital raise of R6.5bn-R7.98bn if all the shares were to be taken up. However, the final pricing will be determined after the bookbuild, based on demand within the range.
In finance, a bookbuild is a process where a company and its underwriters, typically investment banks, determine the price for an IPO by gathering demand from potential investors.
Earlier in the month, Optasia announced its intention on the JSE through a R6.3bn IPO, a flotation that tests investor demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-driven airtime lending across dozens of markets.
The company plans a primary issuance of $75m (about R1.3bn) “to support growth, both organically and through future potential acquisitions”. The group is also planning a secondary share sale from existing shareholders of at least $300m (R5bn) by way of a private placement to qualified investors.
Optasia describes itself as “an AI-enabled fintech platform that provides microfinancing solutions and airtime credit solutions”. In essence, the company is in the business of microlending across various platforms.
Airtime lending businesses
Founded in December 2012, Optasia has developed a network of distribution partners, including mobile network operators and financial institutions. It has access to more than 860-million mobile subscribers.
By end-June, Optasia operated through a network of 49 distribution partners and 13 financial institutions.
The group is behind the airtime lending businesses of mobile operators Vodacom and MTN. It also lists India’s Airtel, Pakistan’s Jazz and Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison as mobile networks that are part of its partner network.
In addition, the group partners with 13 financial institutions.
For the six months to end-June, the group generated revenue of $117.2m, up 90.3% from the previous comparable period. It reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $53.8m, an increase of 91.3% year on year.
Airtime advance has become a big contributor to revenue from SA financial services for mobile providers.
The group said it had “demonstrated a strong financial track record since the founding of its resilient, capital-light business model in 2012.”
The has achieved scale with about 121-million monthly active users and about $23bn in total distributed value since 2016. The group generated revenues of $151.2m in the 2024 financial year.
