Apis Growth Fund I to exit South African business
Apis Growth Fund I to exit South African business
Apis Growth Fund I is set to fully exit its position in South African merchant acquirer Adumo.
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Apis Growth Fund I, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners, is set to fully exit its position in South African merchant acquirer Adumo. This move follows the recent announcement of Adumo’s pending acquisition by South African fintech firm Lesaka.
The deal is expected to complete upon receipt of competition commission approval, and a subsequent restructuring will result in the fund receiving proceeds of the transaction in Lesaka shares.
Payment solutions specialist Adumo was established in 2019 with investments from Apis and Crossfin Holdings. The investment was used to catalyse the merger of three premium payments businesses that anchored the Adumo platform: Sureswipe, Ikhokha and Innervation.
Adumo currently serves about 70,000 active clients and processes about R80 billion (c. $4.3 billion) transactions annually via payment devices that can be fully integrated into the merchants’ business.
Matteo Stefanel, co-founder and managing partner at Apis Partners, commented: “It has been a pleasure to work with all at Adumo over the past few years. Our teams’ shared goals of impact creation and increasing financial inclusion are demonstrated by Adumo more than doubling the value of transactions it processes for SMEs in South Africa during the fund’s holding period. We believe the transition into Lesaka’s ecosystem is a perfect fit for Adumo’s next phase, and we look forward to being a part of it as Lesaka shareholders.”
Udayan Goyal, co-founder and managing partner at Apis Partners, added: “We are very pleased to announce the sale of the fund’s interest in Adumo, which marks a significant achievement for both Apis and Adumo. Adumo was a pioneer in using a verticalisation approach to provide the best in class service to its clients. This transaction underscores Apis’ commitment to identifying and investing in innovative, high-growth opportunities within the financial services and technology sectors.”
The Apis fund’s divestment from Adumo follows the recent successful sale of Retail Capital – another asset held by the fund and part of the broader thesis to provide business solutions to underbanked SMEs – to TymeBank. The fund still holds an interest in iKhokha, which was unbundled from the Adumo platform in 2023.
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