M&A Deal Summary

General Atlantic, FPE Capital and Southern Cross Group Acquire Lesaka

On June 7, 2004, growth capital firm General Atlantic, growth capital firm FPE Capital and private equity firm Southern Cross Group acquired information technology company Lesaka for 53M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is General Atlantic’s 10th, FPE Capital’s 1st and Southern Cross Group’s 1st transaction in the Information Technology sector.
  • This is General Atlantic’s 15th, FPE Capital’s and Southern Cross Group’s 2nd largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is General Atlantic’s 1st, FPE Capital’s 1st and Southern Cross Group’s 1st transaction in South Africa.
Investment Fate
  • Lesaka went public in 2005 for 335M USD.

M&A Deal Summary

Date 2004-06-07
Target Lesaka
Sector Information Technology
Buyer(s) General Atlantic
FPE Capital
Southern Cross Group
Deal Type Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)
Deal Value 53M USD

Target

Lesaka

Johannesburg, South Africa
Lesaka is a 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. The Company offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card acquiring, bill payment technologies and value-added services to retail merchants as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa. Lesaka was founded in 1997 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Buyer(S) 3

Buyer

General Atlantic

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Growth Capital Firm
Founded 1980
PE ASSETS 73.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

General Atlantic is a large private equity firm that invests globally in growth-oriented public and private companies. Broad areas of interest include financial services, media and consumer, healthcare, enterprise solutions, communications and electronics, and energy. General Atlantic looks to invest $40 to $400 million in transactions that support growth, expansions, buy-outs, consolidations and build-ups. General Atlantic seeks to make 8 to 12 investments per year with an investment horizon of five to ten years. The Firm's geographic coverage spans North America; Europe; Asia/Pacific; and India. General Atlantic was formed in 1980 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 27 of 339
Sector (Information Technology) 10 of 44
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 5 of 17
Country (South Africa) 1 of 1
Year (2004) 3 of 6
Size (of disclosed) 15 of 17
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2004-06-07 SSA Global Technologies

Chicago, Illinois, United States

SSA Global Technologies is the company that emerged from the August 2000 acquisition of substantially all of the assets of System Software Associates, Inc. by Gores and Cerberus Capital Management. SSA Global is a leading provider of extended ERP solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail, services and public organizations worldwide. In addition to core ERP applications, SSA Global offers a full range of integrated extension solutions including corporate performance management, customer relationship management, product lifecycle management, supply chain management and supplier relationship management.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2004-06-15 RiskMetrics Group

New York, New York, United States

RiskMetrics Group, Inc. is a provider of risk analytics and information processing to the global financial services community. The RiskMetrics service offering allows investors, shareholders, managers, and regulators to measure and manage financial risk.

Buy $122M
Buyer

FPE Capital

London, United Kingdom

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Growth Capital Firm
Founded 2004
Size Small
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

FPE Capital is the private equity investment arm of Fleming Family & Partners, a multi-family office. FF&P invests in lower middle market companies throughout the UK and Western Europe. FF&P focuses on rapidly growing companies led by experienced management, with proven track records and scalable business models. Sectors of interest include financial services, healthcare, business/support services, energy/resources and media/information. The Firm will consider buyouts (MBOs, MBIs) as well as growth capital financings. FPE Capital was formed in 2004 and is based in London.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 3 of 37
Sector (Information Technology) 1 of 5
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 2 of 14
Country (South Africa) 1 of 1
Year (2004) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 7
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2002-12-11 Sporting Index

London, United Kingdom

Sporting Index is a sports spread betting, dominating the global market with an estimated 80%+ market share.

Sell €64M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2004-11-01 Ceres Power Holdings

Horsham, United Kingdom

Ceres Power Holdings is an AIM-quoted alternative energy company based in the UK, developing fuel cell technology for use by original equipment manufacturers and partners organisations committed to developing combined heat and power products and other distributed energy generation applications. Ceres Power was founded in 2004 and is based in Horsham, the United Kingdom.

Sell -
DESCRIPTION

Southern Cross Group is a private equity firm that seeks investment opportunities in Latin and South America. Southern Cross only invests in control situations and does not focus on any specific industry. Southern Cross Group was formed in 1998 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut with additional offices in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 5 of 28
Sector (Information Technology) 1 of 2
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 5 of 22
Country (South Africa) 1 of 1
Year (2004) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 2 of 2
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2003-06-01 Compania General de Combustibles SA

Vicente Lopez, Argentina

Compañía General de Combustibles ("CGC") is an oil and gas producer, with E&P operations in Argentina, Venezuela, and Ecuador. CGC also holds equity interests in Argentina's most important gas transportation pipelines, which connect Brazil and Chile. Prior to Southern Cross' acquisition, CGC was the most valuable subsidiary of Sociedad Comercial del Plata, a family-controlled and publicly-traded company in Argentina.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2005-08-08 Lesaka

Johannesburg, South Africa

Lesaka is a 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. The Company offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card acquiring, bill payment technologies and value-added services to retail merchants as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa. Lesaka was founded in 1997 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sell $335M