Merger Alert: Net1 Applied Technologies South Africa (Pty) Ltd And Ovobix RF (Pty) Ltd and Luxanio 227 (Pty) Ltd

The Tribunal has conditionally approved the large merger whereby Net1 Applied Technologies South Africa (Pty) Ltd (“Net1 SA”) intends to acquire Ovobix RF (Pty) Ltd (“Ovobix”) and Luxanio 227 (Pty) Ltd (“Luxanio”) from Lirast (Mauritius) Company Limited and Vista Capital Investments (Pty) Ltd respectively. Post-merger, Net1 SA will control Ovobix and Luxanio.

The transaction has been approved with conditions relating to, among others: employment; the establishment of an Employee Share Ownership Program (“ESOP”); and a financial commitment towards Enterprise and Supplier Development.

The acquiring group, through its subsidiaries, provides payment solutions, transaction processing services and financial technology across industries. Relevant to the transaction are the activities of the acquiring group in relation to the sale of prepaid airtime and electricity, provision of billing payments, POS solutions (devices and software) and Value Added Services (“VAS”) solutions. In South Africa, Net1 SA is active in the provision of low-cost financial services to underserviced consumers and payment processing.

Ovobix and Luxanio are investment holding companies, holding shares in two firms and do not carry out any other business activities. In South Africa, the target group provides services in relation to, among others, automated cash management, card payment solutions as well as VAS (prepaid and value added services) and unsecured short term business loans to the South African retail sector.

A full press release will be issued in due course.

Issued by:

Gillian de Gouveia, Communications Officer
On behalf of the Competition Tribunal of South Africa
Cell: +27 (0) 82 410 1195
E-Mail: GillianD@comptrib.co.za
Twitter: @comptrib