MTN Nigeria has bought out the minority shareholder in MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) for $43.8 million.
According to a corporate disclosure on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NGX) website, MTN Nigeria has completed the acquisition of the 7.17% stake in MoMo PSB held by Acxani Capital, thus making MoMo PSB a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTN Nigeria.
MoMo PSB is the fintech solution of MTN Nigeria, which was licensed in 2022 by the CBN. MTN Nigeria had an 80% stake in the company, while Acxani Capital held a 20% stake.
Acxani proposed the disposal of their 20% stake in MoMo in May 2024; however, the stake was diluted to 7.17%.
MTN Nigeria and Acxani Capital came to a $43.8 million agreement for the 7.17% stake. The purchase led to a 481.7 million decline in the MTN’s “Other Reserves,” as the group spent $103 million on the acquisition of the minority stake while it acquired assets worth $21 million from Acxani Capital.
The $103 million spent as purchase consideration included the $43.8 million paid to Acxani and the $5.9 million spent as investment on MoMo.Â
At the end of the second quarter of 2024, it was reported that MoMo PSB’s active wallet hit 5.5 million, reflecting an increase of 701,000 from the first quarter.
In the first half of 2024, MoMo PSB recorded a revenue of $30.6 million, marking an 11% growth from the $27.5 million revenue recorded in H1 2023. MoMo’s growth was driven primarily by Xtratime, the airtime lending service.
The company’s agents also increased by about 498,000 to 239,000 within the half-year, while transaction volume increased by 33.4% year-on-year within the half-year.
In H1 2024, the cash held for MoMo PSB customers declined by 72% to $13.5 million, from $4.7 million as of FYE 2023. The company has a liability of about $16.7 million to MTN Nigeria as of H1 2024, while it paid $7 million to the group during the half year.Â
Acxani Capital is owned by Munir Ja’afaru, a former director in the defunct NITEL as well as a prince in the Zazzau Emirate.
He served as the former district head of Basawa in Zaria, and he once served as the chairman of the National Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) until 2004.
Information about Acxani Capital Limited is very limited, as they don’t have a functional website. However, Munir Ja’afaru is also connected with Novare Fund Manager Limited, an asset management company targeted at the real estate industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.
