Mastercard acquires minority stake in MTN’s fintech business for $200 million
Global payment-technology corporation Mastercard has completed the acquisition of a minority stake in MTN Group’s fintech business. The acquisition comes six months after TechCrunch reported that Mastercard has agreed to invest in MTN Group.
MTN said in a statement that it has signed a definitive agreement with Mastercard for a minority investment of up to USD 200 million into the MTN Group Fintech at a valuation of $5.2 billion (R99 billion) on a cash and debt-free basis.
The telco says the Transaction is non-categorised in terms of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listing requirements and is subject to customary closing conditions.
MTN’s fintech structure includes a mobile money platform — MTN MoMo — insurance services, airtime lending, eCommerce, and network offerings.
When MTN released its interim financial results for the six-month period that ended in June, the mobile operator revealed that its fintech business revenue had grown by 21.7% year-over-year, primarily due to growth in the wallet (+20.7%), payment and e-commerce (+54.9%) and remittance (+78.9%) industries.
The company says these latest agreements complement the larger commercial relationship between the Group and Mastercard to support the continued development and growth of technology and infrastructure to drive financial inclusion across the African continent.
”This commercial relationship is a key enabler for the acceleration of our fintech business’ payments and remittance services,” it says.
MTN adds that it will continue to explore opportunities for other value-enhancing partnerships and investments, subject to market conditions, with strategic partners and long-term investors.
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