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Lesaka to expand its Merchant Footprint in SA’s Informal Market with the acquisition of Touchsides from Heineken
Lesaka Technologies, Inc.
Registered in the state of Florida, USA
(IRS Employer Identification No. 98-0171860)
Nasdaq share code: LSAK
JSE share code: LSK
LEI: 529900J4IZMWV4RDEB07
ISIN: US64107N2062
("Lesaka," or the "Company")
Lesaka to expand its Merchant Footprint in SA's Informal Market with the acquisition of
Touchsides from Heineken
JOHANNESBURG, February 6, 2024 – Lesaka (Nasdaq: LSAK; JSE: LSK) today announced that
it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Touchsides (Pty) Ltd ("Touchsides"), a leading
data analytics and, insights and merchant services company, from Heineken International B.V. The
Touchsides and Kazang businesses are highly complementary, and the acquisition is expected to
significantly expand Kazang's footprint in the tavern industry in South Africa's informal market.
Touchsides has an active base of over 10,000 POS terminals across South Africa's informal licensed
taverns, and processes more than 1.5 million transactions per day. The business provides platform-as-
a-service (PaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to licensed tavern outlets, enabling the
measurement of sales activity in real-time, management of stock levels and informing commercial
decisions, such as pricing and promotional offers. The data and insights gathered from these terminals
carries significant value and potential to be monetized through relationships with a range of clients
including fast-moving consumer goods companies, retailers, wholesalers, route-to-market suppliers,
and financiers.
The licensed tavern market in South Africa consists of an estimated 45,000 establishments, is a major
vertical in South Africa's informal market and provides a real growth opportunity for Kazang.
Lesaka head of Merchant Division and CEO of Connect Steve Heilbron said: "Touchsides is an
exciting acquisition target and aligns perfectly with our strategy of adding scale and broadening our
service offering in our Merchant division. With its installed network and deep data and insight
capabilities, we expect to have a strong platform to better understand and further penetrate South
Africa's informal markets.
"We have identified multiple growth levers from this acquisition that we are ready to execute on,"
added Heilbron. "Operating as an independent company unaffiliated to a major beverage supplier, we
see a distinct opportunity to significantly grow Touchsides' tavern base and to monetize its real-time
data. Additionally, we see opportunities for Kazang not only in providing services to Touchsides base,
but also in leveraging its data monetization experience and point-of-sale expertise across our large
informal merchant base outside of the tavern industry."
The acquisition, funded by internal cash generation of the Group, is expected to close in March 2024
and is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. As part of the acquisition, Heineken's
operating business in South Africa has agreed to a long-term renewable contract with Touchsides for
access to Touchsides' tavern data and services.
About Lesaka (www.lesakatech.com)
Lesaka Technologies, (Lesaka™) is a South African Fintech company that utilizes its proprietary
banking and payment technologies to deliver superior financial services solutions to merchants (B2B)
and consumers (B2C) in Southern Africa. Lesaka's mission is to drive true financial inclusion for both
merchant and consumer markets through offering affordable financial services to previously
underserved sectors of the economy. Lesaka offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card
acquiring, bill payment technologies and value-added services to formal and informal retail merchants
as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa. The Lesaka
journey originally began as "Net1" in 1997 and later rebranded to Lesaka (2022), with the acquisition
of Connect. As Lesaka, the business continues to grow its systems and capabilities to deliver
meaningful fintech-enabled, innovative solutions for South Africa's merchant and consumer markets.
Lesaka has a primary listing on NASDAQ (NasdaqGS: LSAK) and a secondary listing on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE: LSK). Visit www.lesakatech.com for additional information
about Lesaka Technologies (Lesaka ™).
About Kazang (www.kazang.com)
Kazang is a leading provider of cash and digital solutions to merchants in Southern Africa's informal
economies. Its fintech solutions include a wide range of value-added services (VAS), card acquiring,
secure cash vaults and supplier payments platforms. Kazang operates a network of over 75,000 active
devices, and processes around 2.2 million transactions daily.
Kazang is dedicated to helping small and medium merchants grow and succeed, through increasing
their sales, making their businesses more efficient and reducing their risks with its holistic portfolio of
products and services.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain statements that may be considered forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are subject to the safe harbor
created by those sections and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such
statements may be identified by their use of terms or phrases such as "expects," "estimates," "projects,"
"believes," "anticipates," "plans," "could," "would," "may," "will," "intends," "outlook," "focus,"
"seek," "potential," "mission," "continue," "goal," "target," "objective," derivations thereof, and
similar terms and phrases. Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and
expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which
cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially
from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. In this press
release, statements relating to future financial results and future financing and business opportunities
are forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement is contained in our
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, as filed with the SEC, as well as other documents
we have filed or will file with the SEC. With respect to our proposed acquisition of Touchsides,
additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by
the forward-looking statements include, among others: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other
circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the share purchase agreement relating to the
proposed acquisition; (2) the ability to satisfy all conditions to completion of the proposed acquisition,
including obtaining regulatory approvals; (3) unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the
transaction; (4) the disruption of management's attention from our ongoing business operations due to
the proposed acquisition; (5) changes in the financial condition of the markets that Touchsides serves;
(6) risks associated with Touchsides' product and service offerings or its results of operation; (7) the
challenges, risks and costs involved with integrating the operations of Touchsides with ours; and (8)
our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition. We assume no obligation to
update the information in this press release, to revise any forward-looking statements or to update the
reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.
Investor Relations Contact:
Phillipe Welthagen
Email: phillipe.welthagen@lesakatech.com
Mobile: +27 84 512 5393
FNK IR:
Rob Fink / Matt Chesler, CFA
Email: lsak@fnkir.com
Johannesburg
February 6, 2024
Sponsor:
Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited
Date: 06-02-2024 07:05:00
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