LSAK News & Events

Lesaka announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lesaka Technologies Proprietary, has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the issued ordinary shares of Bank Zero. The acquisition consideration will be settled through a combination of newly issued shares - such that the shareholders of Bank Zero will own approximately 12% of Lesaka's fully diluted shares at the time of completion of the proposed transaction - and up to $5.1M in cash. All amounts translated at the closing rate of $1: ZAR 17.75 as of June 25. The proposed transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions as well as regulatory approvals ordinarily required of a transaction of this nature, including approval from the Prudential Authority, a division of the South African Reserve Bank, Competition Commission approval and Exchange Control approval. Post completion, and subject to regulatory approval, Lesaka could achieve more than ZAR 1B reduction in gross debt. The proposed transaction was agreed based on an assumed Lesaka share price of $4.97 and the current fully diluted share count. The transaction consideration of an approximate 12% stake in Lesaka of $56.3M, together with up to $5.1M in cash implies a transaction consideration of up to ZAR 1.09B for the acquisition of Bank Zero. If the actual share price at the time of completion exceeds the assumed share price, the amount of cash consideration would increase with a corresponding decrease in stock consideration. Lesaka expects the transaction to be accretive to its shareholders, with Bank Zero expected to be profitable in the fiscal year following completion of the transaction. Upon completion of the proposed transaction, the selling shareholders of Bank Zero - which include Michael Jordaan, Yatin Narsai and other members of the Bank Zero will collectively hold an approximate 12% stake in Lesaka. Bank Zero sellers will be subject to regulatory and contractual lockups ranging from between 18 and 36-months post-completion, depending on the seller. Following completion of the transaction, Michael Jordaan will join the Lesaka board of directors, while Yatin Narsai will continue as CEO of Bank Zero. The broader Bank Zero leadership team will remain in their current roles.

The company will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares offered by this prospectus.

Lesaka announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Recharger, a South African prepaid electricity submetering and payments business. The purchase consideration of ZAR 507M, or $28M, will be paid over two tranches with the first tranche settled at closing and the second tranche a year later. The purchase consideration will be settled through a combination of ZAR 332M, or $18M in cash and ZAR 175M, or $10M, in shares of Lesaka common stock. The share price applied to determine the number of shares of Lesaka's common stock to be issued for the equity consideration will be based on the volume-weighted average price of Lesaka shares for the three-month period prior to the disbursal of each tranche. Lesaka will also make a ZAR 43M contribution to Recharger at closing which will be used exclusively to repay a loan due by Recharger to the seller. The company expects the transaction to be concluded at an EV/EBITDA multiple of approximately six times. Recharger is expected to sit within the Enterprise pillar of Lesaka's merchant division. The company expects the acquisition to act as an entry point into the South African private utilities space while augmenting the Enterprise pillar's alternative payment offering. The transaction is expected to close in Lesaka's third quarter of fiscal 2025 and is subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Reports Q1 revenue $145.55M, consensus $144.67M. Lesaka Chairman Ali Mazanderani said: "We continue to invest in building the Lesaka platform and to scale as Southern Africa's leading independent fintech. We achieved the mid-point of our revenue and Group Adjusted EBITDA guidance for Q1 2025. We have now delivered on our Group Adjusted EBITDA guidance for nine successive quarters and reaffirm our FY 2025 revenue guidance of ZAR 10 billion to ZAR 11 billion and FY2025 Group Adjusted EBITDA guidance of ZAR 900 million to ZAR 1 billion. Our Net Revenue guidance of ZAR 5.2 million to ZAR 5.6 million for FY 2025 implies 35% year-on year growth at the midpoint of this range. Our Group Adjusted EBITDA guidance for FY 2025 implies 37% growth, year-on-year, at the midpoint of the range."