REG - EFG-Hermes Holdings - valU Acquires 100% of Fintech Company Paynas

EFG Holding SAEAnnouncement

22/08/2022 14:45

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RNS Number : 8138W  EFG-Hermes Holdings SAE  22 August 2022

Press Release:

valU Acquires Fintech Company Paynas to Further Advance its Financial Offering
and Amplify its Lifestyle Enabling Solution

-     The transaction falls in line with valU's strategy to grow the
business and enhance its tech power, and allows it to reach Paynas's large and
growing base of micro, small, and medium enterprises

-     The acquisition helps valU further cement its position as a leading
fintech platform with a holistic offering and the best value-accretive
solutions

Cairo, August 22, 2022

valU, MENA's leading Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) lifestyle-enabling fintech
platform, announced today that it acquired 100% of Paynas, a full-fledged
employee management and benefits company that provides financial services to
micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) in a signing ceremony attended by
Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation

The acquisition builds on valU's mission to offer the wider society access to
seamless financial solutions that facilitate their day-to-day activities and
enhance their lifestyle; and reinforces Paynas's mission to be MENA's leading
financial wellness and benefits platform, through offering access and
convenience beyond employment. Joining forces with Paynas will act as a
gateway for valU to reach micro, small and medium businesses who are
considered to be the backbone of the economy, with the goal to unlock various
opportunities to both employers and employees.

Paynas offers a multitude of employee management and payment services to
MSMEs, including a cloud-based platform to manage time & attendance and
payroll, financial products such as payroll cards and affordable health
insurance, and financial wellness products such as earned wage pay-outs and
salary advances. By combining Paynas's service offering with valU's BNPL plans
covering healthcare, education, home appliances, furniture, and travel, among
others, valU is delivering on its vision of becoming a holistic financing
powerhouse catering with progressive and convenient solutions to every aspect
of people's daily lives.

valU will now harness a powerful ecosystem that constitutes compelling B2B
partnerships, multiple acquisition channels, and a multi-product platform that
will maximize returns through cross-selling synergies and low customer
acquisition costs for both players. The partnership opens wide doors for
valU's BNPL solutions by tapping into Paynas's roster of MSME clients and
employees, integrating them into valU's client base, while augmenting Paynas's
offering with a comprehensive range of financing products. Moreover,
digitizing the datasets of Paynas's users will better position valU to offer
them more cost-effective BNPL products by improving its loan disbursement
cycles and credit scoring systems.

Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation said: "This pivotal
transaction reflects the compelling investment opportunities and growth
prospects presented by the start-up and fintech sectors in Egypt. It
underscores the country's efforts in becoming a leading entrepreneurial hub in
the region given a set of unique advantages such as talented youth,
significant economic opportunities, and the continued efforts undertaken by
the public and private sectors to create a conducive business environment for
start-ups that fosters the participation of the private sector in the
country's advancement. The transaction also showcases the success of Egypt
Ventures, the first government-backed venture capital vehicle established in
2017, and its accelerator program EFG-EV Fintech that is jointly-owned with
EFG Hermes Holding, in supporting start-ups on their journey for growth and
expansion, in line with Egypt's digital transformation and financial inclusion
agenda, and their achievements in opening doors for entrepreneurs so they can
deliver their role in supporting the growth of the Egyptian market."

Walid Hassouna, CEO of valU said: "Paynas is a strategic fit for us, and the
combination of our two companies will drive significant value for our
shareholders and customers by delivering a 360° financial and lifestyle
enabling solution, with the objective of addressing every aspect of people's
life and the goal of improving their overall quality of living. That, and the
addition of exceptional talent to our team, firmly positions us as a leading
fintech platform in the region. Since inception, our most important asset has
been our people, and we targeted a company that puts people at the heart of
everything they do. We are very excited and look forward to seeing new, big
ideas come to life under the valU brand that can drive tech products and bring
new conveniences to our customers while efficiently rolling out cross border
initiatives in the region."

valU will leverage Paynas's digital and tech prowess to become the go-to
fintech platform. Being the first startup in Egypt with an Agent Banking
License, Paynas integrates small and medium businesses into the financial
system by digitizing their wage payments via Paynas's payroll cards - issued
in partnership with Banque Misr and powered by Visa - which, in tandem with
the Paynas app, allows employees to improve their financial planning and
wellness and contributes to a cashless economy. By combining valU's roster of
installment programs with the Paynas payroll card, the acquisition offers
customers a seamless shopping experience and is a stepping stone towards their
further integration into Egypt's digital economy.

Mohamed Mounir, CEO of Paynas said: "Paynas has built a leading brand and has
been playing a pivotal role in fostering the financial inclusion of micro,
small, and medium businesses and the unbanked in Egypt.With both companies
driven to have a social and economic impact, we're looking forward to making
more meaningful changes in people's lives by allowing them to have more access
to finance and bringing effective financial solutions to their doorstep. This
acquisition is proof positive of the success we've achieved thus far, success
we can in large part attribute to the support of our investors who believed in
our vision."

This is the second investment valU carries out this year, following its
investment of a 35% share into FAS Finance, the consumer finance arm of Saudi
Arabia's FAS Labs, which allowed valU to expand geographically and enter the
Saudi market, while providing consumer finance solutions through FAS. During
the same month, the company announced selling a 4.99% stake to members of the
Alhokair family, marking a key steppingstone for the platform to create
strategic regional partnerships.

-Ends-

About valU

A subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding established in 2017, valU is the leading
Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) lifestyle enabling fintech platform offering
convenient and customizable financing plans up to 60 months. With more than
5,000 points of sale and over 330 websites, valU offers access to a wide
network of retail and e-commerce providers across a diverse array of
categories including home appliances, electronics, home finishing, furniture,
residential solar solutions, healthcare, education, travel, and fashion, among
others. As the first platform of its kind in the MENA region, valU customers
can receive instant credit decisions through their devices and gain access to
the ever-growing platform's partners.

Note on Forward-Looking Statements

In this press release, EFG Hermes Holding may make forward looking statements,
including, for example, statements about management's expectations, strategic
objectives, growth opportunities and business prospects. These forward-looking
statements are not historical facts but instead represent only EFG Hermes
Holding's belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature are
inherently uncertain and are beyond management's control and include among
others, financial market volatility; actions and initiatives taken by current
and potential competitors; general economic conditions and the effect of
current, pending, and future legislation, regulations, and regulatory actions.
Accordingly, the readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are
made.

About Paynas

Established in 2019, Paynas is a digital platform empowering business and
their employees through cloud-based workforce management, payments, and
financial benefits. By enabling businesses to digitize core HR processes, run
and disburse payroll accurately and seamlessly, while providing a suite of
benefits to their employees aimed at enhancing their financial wellness and
accessibility, Paynas is improving the day-to-day operations of smaller
businesses and the day-to-day lives of their employees.

 

 

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