Network International Holdings UK Set To Acquire Africa’s Payments Solutions Group, DPO, For $288 Million

by Francisca Coker

Network International Holdings (www.Network.ae) headquartered in the United Kingdom, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire DPO Group, the leading, high-growth online commerce platform in Africa, for a total consideration of approximately USD288 million. The consideration will be almost entirely funded through the proceeds from an equity placing representing 10.0% of the Company’s existing issued share capital, USD50 million vendor consideration shares issued to Apis Growth Fund I, managed by Apis Partners, USD13 million consideration shares issued to the DPO co-founders, with any small remaining balance to be funded via existing debt facilities.

Facts Provided by DPO Group:

  • Rapid growth profile with revenue CAGR of c.40% from 2017-2019 and Total Processed Volume CAGR of c.30% from 2017-2019. Revenues of USD16 million in 2019
  • Leading e-commerce and mobile money services for over 47,000 merchants across high quality brands
  • Present in 19 countries across Africa with South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania representing major markets. Multiple distribution channels with on the ground presence to recruit merchants, combined with direct connectivity to acquiring banks

Network International’s Strategic Interests:

  • Market: consolidates and accelerates our presence in Africa, the most underpenetrated and fast growing payments market in the world. Africa expected to represent c.40% of Network International total revenue by 2024 (27% in 2019), giving us an evenly balanced business in Africa across Merchant and Issuer Solutions
  • Distribution and relationships: brings direct merchant and Mobile Network Operator (“MNO”) relationships, broadening our business in Africa across the entire payments value chain
  • Capabilities and innovation: widens our capabilities and exposure in fast growing online payments and mobile money, enabling merchants to accept a wide range of payments methods
  • Cross selling opportunities: combined incremental capabilities and solutions provide significant cross-sell opportunities to both Network International and DPO customers
  • Disciplined capital allocation: acquisition expected to be broadly EPS neutral in 2022, including integration costs. Double digit ROCE within 3-4 years, and significantly higher thereafter

Statement from Simon Haslam, CEO, Network International:

“We are excited by the proposed acquisition of DPO, the leading high-growth online commerce platform operating at scale across Africa. Africa is a vast and diverse continent, representing the world’s most underpenetrated, nascent and fast growing payments markets, where we have seen recent signs of an acceleration in those trends. DPO will further consolidate our presence in Africa, strengthen our position across the entire payments value chain and accelerate our growth. This acquisition will widen our capabilities across online, mobile and alternative payments; bring an extensive and diverse range of direct merchant relationships to our business; and provide a wider range of solutions for our existing customers. We look forward to bringing our two businesses together and welcoming DPO’s colleagues into our group. Together, we have a powerful combination to accelerate digital payments across our regions and deliver significant shareholder value.”

Leave a Reply