Verdant Capital closes four PE-related transactions in South Africa
Verdant Capital has closed four private equity-related transactions in South Africa with fundraisings for Bridge Taxi Finance and Retail Capital, the sale of Nedan Oil and the sale of Baxi to MFS Africa.
Verdant Capital has successfully raised ZAR 300 million (approx. $20 million) in debt financing for Bridge Taxi Finance from a small group of international impact investors. The funding will be used to grow the institution’s lease portfolio. In addition, Verdant Capital has raised ZAR 150 million (approx. $10 million) in debt funding for Retail Capital, a technology-enabled SME-financer. The first tranche of ZAR 50 million (approx. $3.3 million) was drawn in October and the balance will be drawn in 2022.
Bridge Taxi Finance, based in South Africa, provides affordable credit facilities to South African driver-entrepreneurs in the minibus taxi industry. It has a vertically integrated business model that includes vehicle finance, day to day tracking, advice and management, and vehicle repairs and services. The company has financed over 3,200 entrepreneurs to date (1,100 in FY2021 alone).
Retail Capital is the first and largest merchant cash advance provider in the South African SME market. The company was established 10 years ago, and it has disbursed over ZAR 4.5 billion (approx. $295.6 million) to more than 38,000 merchants since inception. It is on target to disburse ZAR 8 billion (approx. $525.5 million) to small businesses by 2023.
Furthermore, Verdant Capital advised Baxi, a leading super-agent in Nigeria, on its sale to MFS Africa, a South Africa-headquartered pan-African payments business and a portfolio company of Lun Partners, Goodwell and Equator Capital.
Finally, Verdant Capital advised Philafrica on the sale of its soya oil crushing interests. Philafrica, a subsidiary of AFGRI, has sold its soya oil crushing plant, which trades in the market under the names Nedan, Marathon, Soya Ya Ka and Promax (soya oil cake). The acquiror is majority BBBEE-owned party, and the transaction marks an important contribution to the transformation of foods sector in South Africa.
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