- MTN Nigeria has acquired a 7.17% minority stake in MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) from Acxani Capital for ₦6.95 billion ($4.36 million). This acquisition aims to simplify and strengthen the fintech's operations.
- Consequently, MoMo PSB is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTN Nigeria.
Before this transaction, MTN Nigeria held an 80% stake in MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB), while Acxani Capital owned the remaining 20%. In May 2024, Acxani Capital proposed to dispose of its 20% stake, which was reduced to 7.17%.
MTN Nigeria and Acxani Capital agreed on a purchase price of ₦6.95 billion for the 7.17% stake. This transaction resulted in a decrease of ₦12.97 billion in MTN’s "Other Reserves."
The total expenditure of ₦16.35 billion on this acquisition included the ₦6.95 billion paid to Acxani Capital and an additional ₦9.4 billion invested in MoMo PSB. The transaction also involved acquiring assets valued at ₦3.38 billion from Acxani Capital.
MoMo PSB, which received its operating licence from the CBN in 2022, has demonstrated growth. For the half-year period ending June 30, 2024, the fintech reported revenue of ₦48.6 billion, reflecting an 11% increase from ₦43.6 billion in the same period of 2023.
This growth was primarily driven by its airtime lending product, Xtratime, and a rise in the adoption of its mobile money services.
The number of active MoMo PSB wallets surged by 73.9%, reaching 5.5 million by the end of the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 701,000 from the first quarter.
The number of MoMo PSB agents grew by approximately 498,000 to a total of 239,000, and transaction volume saw a 33.4% year-on-year increase.
Nonetheless, the cash held on behalf of MoMo PSB customers decreased substantially by 72%, dropping to ₦2.15 billion from ₦7.6 billion at the end of 2023. Additionally, as of the end of the first half of 2024, the company reported a liability of approximately ₦26.6 billion to MTN Nigeria and made payments totalling ₦11.2 billion to MTN Nigeria during this period.
Meanwhile, in February 2024, Mastercard announced a $200 million (₦3.8 billion) investment in MTN Group’s fintech arm, acquiring a 3.8% minority stake.
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The investment followed Mastercard's earlier announcement, made six months prior, about its intention to acquire a minority stake in MTN MoMo.
