Friday, December 13

Mergers & Acquisitions

Global Deal Activity Jan 2023 Vs Dec Jan 2022
  • Global deal activity down 27.5 percent Month-on-Month (M-o-M) and 46.7 percent Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) in January 2023.
  • All the deal types under coverage witnessed massive double-digit decline
  • According to the data, a total of 3,667 deals* were announced globally during January 2023, which is a decline of 27.5 percent compared to 5,055 deals announced during the previous month and a massive 46.7 percent Y-o-Y (Year on Year) decline over January 2022. 

Mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing deal activity is off to a slow start in 2023 globally as the first month of the year itself saw a significant contraction in deals volume according to the latest data from GlobalData, data and analytics company. 

According to the data, a total of 3,667 deals were announced globally during January 2023, which is a decline of 27.5 percent compared to 5,055 deals announced during the previous month and a massive 46.7

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This comes after the National Treasury exempted the digital lender from a law limiting individual shareholding in microfinance to 25 per cent.

In a gazette notice signed by the Cabinet Secretary National Treasury, Ukur Yatani, the San-Francisco based fintech has been exempted from Section 19 of the Microfinance Act (for 4 years through 2025).

Currently, individuals or single entities are barred from holding more than a 25 per cent stake in a microfinance institution.…

theexchange.africa
  • The game has been acquired for an undisclosed price in the “low seven figures.”
  • This adds to the publications growing portfolio of word games including The Crossword, The Mini, and Spelling Bee
  • As of December 2021, The NYT had over one million games subscriptions

It has now become common for one to come across a post on different social media platforms with the title Wordle accompanied by a specific figure and what appears to be a strange-looking yellow, green and black graph. 

This growing phenomenon is courtesy of a puzzle known as Wordle created by Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle in October 2021. 

The game initially created for Wardle and his partner Ms. Palak Shah has now been purchased by the New York Times (NYT) Company. According to the NYT, the game has been acquired for an undisclosed price in the “low seven figures.”

Read: Piecing the Puzzle of African

From left Olivier Laouchez(right)Trace Co-Founder Chairman and CEO, H. E Mrs. Aline Kuster –Menager French Ambassador, Victoria Anampiu, Joselyne Chebet both from Qwetu Radio and Danny Mucira (center)Trace East Africa Managing Director pose for a photo during the Trace Radio Launch at ABC Place Nairobi.

TRACE, the global urban music television, and entertainment network have finalized the acquisition of a 70-percent stake in Qwetu Radio for an undisclosed fee.

The deal that commenced with talks in September 2018, now gives Trace a foothold in the highly competitive urban radio entertainment segment in Kenya. Following the conclusion of the acquisition, Trace has now set up its East African hub in Westlands in Nairobi that will be led by Danny Mucira as the MD for the East Africa cluster.

Trace also launched the newly branded Trace Radio 95.3 FM, a music-only radio station. According to Olivier Laouchez, Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Trace worldwide, the company inherits Qwetu Radio’s estimated 4% market share in the urban music and entertainment category in Kenya.

“Our vision is to increase this, to become the music radio market leader in Kenya by 2022. With Trace Radio 95.3, we are …

Nigeria's Access Bank acquires Transnational Bank

Nigeria’s largest retail lender Access Bank acquired Kenya’s Transnational Bank starting its plans to open shop in all major Eastern Africa markets.

The bank is in the process of acquiring 93.57 per cent shareholding in Kenya’s private owned Transnational Bank at an undisclosed fee as its further eyes Tanzania and Uganda.

The Kenyan acquisition is expected to be concluded in the next 30 to 60 days as it awaits regulatory approvals.
The bank said it was seeking to expand in the region through acquisitions and setting up greenfield operations so as to deepen competition for customers with local rivals.

The lender said it had drawn a five-year plan from 2018-2022 which seeks to raise its retail and wholesale banking business and position itself as the world’s most respected African bank.

Access Bank controls over $13 billion worth of assets and over 27 million customers. In its plan to track record …

Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V has gotten a major boost in its quest to expand its portfolio with the acquisition of a majority stake in Chemi & Cotex Kenya Limited, a subsidiary of Tanzania’s Chemi and Cotex Industries Limited.

UK headquartered manufacturer–Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V has gotten a major boost in its quest to expand its portfolio in Kenya and the East Africa region.

This follows the approval by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to acquire a majority stake (90%) in Chemi & Cotex Kenya Limited, a subsidiary of Tanzania’s Chemi and Cotex Industries Limited.

The firm is involved in the distribution of cosmetics, beauty, hair, oral care products and food products, one of East Africa’s leading fast moving consumer goods companies

Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V (Unilever B.V) on the other hand, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever Plc which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

With the approval, Unilever will now move to assume direct control of the investment company and indirect control over Chemi & Cotex Kenya Limited.

The parties’ combined and relevant turnover for the preceding year …

The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the acquisition of a controlling stake in Almasi Beverages Limited by Coca-Cola Sabco (East Africa) Limited, in one of the latest mergers and acquisitions in Kenya.

The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the acquisition of a controlling stake in Almasi Beverages Limited by Coca-Cola Sabco (East Africa) Limited, in one of the latest mergers in the country.

The proposed transaction involves acquisition of a 53.95 per cent stake (issued share capital) of Almasi from Centum Investment Company (Plc) by Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Proprietary Limited (CCBA).

Coca-Cola Sabco (East Africa) Limited (CCSEA), the acquiring undertaking is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Proprietary Limited, a private company established in South Africa and a subsidiary of giant global beverages firm-Coca Cola.

READ ALSO:Coca-Cola to retain majority stake in Africa subsidiary

The acquisition follows the exit of Centum, which on October 3, announced it had completed the sale of its 53.9 per cent shareholding in Almasi Beverages Limited and 27.6 per cent shareholding in Nairobi Bottlers Limited to Coca-Cola Sabco East Africa Limited.

Almasi has …

The Mauritius PE behind Kenya's Qickmart and Tumaini supermarkets merger

Adenia Partners, a private equity firm investing in Sub-Saharan Africa, and headquartered in Mauritius has been making inroads into the supermarket sector in Kenya through strategic buy-outs in the last one year.

Last month, Adenia Partners announced that it completed a majority investment in Quick Mart Limited, a major supermarket chain, operating a chain of 11 supermarkets in Kenya with 9 stores located in neighbourhood estates in Nairobi, and another 2 stores in the town of Nakuru. The transaction has been structured through Adenia Capital (IV), a  EURO230mn fund.

Immediately, the buy-out managers announced that they will use the funds to expand to new locations as well as merging it with another upcoming store, Tumaini Self Service Limited which runs a supermarket by the same name.

The PE announced in December 2018,  that it had completed an investment in Tumaini Self Service Limited through a special purpose vehicle, Sokoni Retail …

Ethiopia and Mauritius attract leading M&A law firm Bowmans

Bowmans Law firm, a leading pan African legal entity specializing in business deals, merger and acquisitions (M&A) is set to launch its base in Ethiopia and Mauritius at the beginning of October 2019. The move is seen as an expansion of the company to two countries where FDIs have remained high coupled with financial growth.

Bowmans is opening a fully-fledged office in Mauritius, having joined forces with FirmWise, a local firm that specialises in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, investment funds, tax, compliance and private equity.

Robert Legh, chairman, and senior partner, says ‘This move, which is effective from 1 October 2019, is an investment in the ambitions and success of our clients across Africa. Mauritius and Ethiopia are key jurisdictions for many of our clients and our presence on the ground there will help us to better support them.’

The law firm already has a presence …

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