M&A Roundup: GoDaddy, Naspers and Jumia expanding horizons

CFO South Africa 15 March 2019

GoDaddy comes to South Africa, Jumia lists on the NY stock exchange and Naspers invests in China.

Jumia has filed for a New York initial public offering (IPO). The company said its business is expanding and the continent’s development will make it a better market, with a growing young population, more infrastructure investments, urbanisation and rapid economic growth.

Old Mutual plans to spend up to R2 billion in buying back shares from its shareholders.

“Following a review of all capital available at 31 December 2018, and taking into account capital and liquidity projections to the end of the 2019 financial year, we have identified sufficient excess capital available to conduct on market share buybacks for up to R2 billion,” the company announced on Monday.

GoDaddy, one of the world’s largest cloud platforms, has announced its presence in South Africa.

By formally entering the market, GoDaddy said it will engage more closely with small business owners and entrepreneurs in the country, and offer more tools and support to help them build a powerful online presence and grow their business.

Naspers wants to spend about $1 billion in India this year as it searches the globe for investments that can replicate its blockbuster bet on China’s Tencent. The company is in talks to inject about $200 million into business loan provider Capital Float and payments security firm Wimbo as a first step.

Crossfin Technology has invested an undisclosed amount in Retail Capital. Crossfin Technology didn’t disclose its interest in Retail Capital only saying that the deal consists of a “significant minority interest.”

Anton Gaylard (pictured), the chief operating officer and co-founder of Crossfin Technology, and Karl Westvig, the CEO of Retail Capital, spoke to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Africa about the deal.

[cfocoza-cta slug=get-the-latest-m-a-news]