Mergers & Acquisitions

  • 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.…

  • 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

Ilara Health, a Kenyan based health tech company bringing affordable diagnostics to doctors in Africa, has raised $700,000 in seed funding. Villgro Kenya,  local incubation hub has joined a suite of seasoned investors including ShakaVC, a Nairobi-based firm backed by Chinese investors, Chandaria Capital and the venture capital arm Chandaria Industries.
Angel investors in this round include Esther Dyson (23andMe, Yandex, Meetup), Nijhad Jamal (Moja Capital, ex BlackRock, Acumen), Aadil Mamujee (Musha Ventures), Selma Ribica (AfricInvest, Lebara Money, M-Pesa), and Shakir Merali (LGT Impact, ex Abraaj). Several of the new investors will become strategic advisors to the business.
The investment will be used primarily to grow Ilara Health’s peri-urban medical clinic customers in Kenya (and ultimately beyond. It will also allow the company to build a flexible technology platform to manage and protect valuable patient health and clinic financial data.
Ilara Health provides a route to market for new tech-powered

Societe Bic, the global owner of the Bic brand has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Lucky Stationery Nigeria Ltd (LSNL). The transaction has been reviewed and approved by the Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“FCCPC”). The closing is expected end of 2019.

LSNL is Nigeria’s number one Writing Instruments manufacturer, with approximately 5 million euros in Net Sales and approximately 30% market share in volume. Its main Writing Instrument manufacturing facility is currently located in Ilupeju-Lagos and will be relocated to a new modern facility north of Lagos in Shagamu.

BIC has been operating in Nigeria for more than forty years through a distribution partnership with CFAO – Nipen. LSNL’s brand, product portfolio, and distribution network will strengthen BIC’s current position in Nigeria.

This acquisition is consistent with BIC’s continued growth strategy in Africa. Nigeria is the largest economy and most …

Jervois has completed its merger with eCobalt after receiving eCobalt’s nod from its Canadian shareholders and Supreme Court of British Columbia approvals. According to a joint announcement, following the successful completion of the Arrangement, all conditions precedent have been met and settlement of the A$16.5 million equity placement in Jervois has occurred.

The expanded company has projects in Australia, East Africa, and the US, including eCobalt’s Idaho Cobalt project, which boasts the highest combination of cobalt grade and scale in North America.

The acquisition of M2 Cobalt gave Jervois an entry into Uganda, complementing its East African strategy looking at opportunities around the historic Kilembe mine and Kasese cobalt refinery.

Idaho Cobalt Project has been renamed Idaho Cobalt Operations (“ICO”) to reflect its advanced stage of development and Jervois’s intention to transform the site into a mining operation. The site has had an estimated US$100 million invested to date in …

International lottery and gaming operator Tenlot Group has acquired an 85 per cent stake in Kenya Charity Sweepstake (KSC), the country’s oldest public lottery. KSC was established in Kenya in 1966 with the aim of helping to alleviate poverty and to provide financial support to social causes.

The acquisition is meant to take advantage of a growing gaming culture in Kenya that has blossomed in the last five years. The country has seen the entry of international betting companies leading to the government coming up with tough measures to rein on them.

“We see tremendous potential in Kenya. It is an exciting investment for us, as it is one of the world’s leading countries in the use of Mobile Wallet,” said Tenlot chief executive Yossi Abadi was quoted by UK media last week.

KCS has built a magnificent national gaming infrastructure, in a market with potential of US$500 million, which

Cloud9xp, leading online marketplace, booking service and distributor for leisure experiences with a Kenyan base has announced that they have joined forces with one of the fastest growing and tech-enabled tours and travel companies in the region, Heartbeat Adventures.

The deal finally came to a positive conclusion after several weeks of negotiations. The two companies will continue with operations under the Cloud9xp brand, with HeartBeat Adventures’s Founder, Winnie Kimathi, being appointed as the new Managing Director to oversee day to day operations of the company, open new doors for revenue generation through curated travel packages and lead the next phase of the company’s’ growth.

Following a recent round of undisclosed investment and launching their new mobile applications earlier in the year, Cloud9xp has been on an upward trend.

The merger will allow a better customer experience and bigger product basket size. This includes in-destination management, flight and accommodation bookings …

ARM Cement has signed a USD50 million (Ksh5.1 billion) deal for the transfer of its business to Devki group’ National Cement Company Limited.

The deal involved acquisition of all cement and non-cement assets and business of ARM Cement PLC in Kenya.

ARM Cement and its subsidiaries currently have operations in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. The Company also has some interests, in the form of unexploited mineral deposits, in South Africa.

The principal activities of the company and its subsidiaries are the manufacture and distribution of cement, mining and processing of industrial minerals and chemicals, trading in other building products and the sale of fertilizers.

Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), ARM Cement was placed under administration last year (August 17) after it failed to meet its creditor obligations.

The cement manufacturer owes its creditors, whom include local banks, about USD190 million.

Failure to meet its debt obligations has now …

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