Cairo, Egypt: Actis, an emerging markets private equity firm, is banking on Africa’s
transition from a cash-based society to one led by electronic payments with the management
buy-out of Mediterranean Smart Cards Company. The deal, the size of which has not been
disclosed, sees Actis become a majority shareholder, while the management team has also
invested for a stake in the business.

MSCC was founded in 2001 and has built on its foundation in Egypt to penetrate over 20
countries. Around one third of Egyptian banks currently outsource their card processing to
MSCC.

Actis senior partner Paul Fletcher said, “The growth of the payments industry is a key
feature of the emerging markets story; we believe it shows the same potential as the
telecoms sector did ten years ago.”

The MSCC acquisition follows Actis’s $244m investment in Egypt’s Commercial International
Bank in July last year.

Of the $4.8bn of assets that Actis has under management, the private equity firm has $1.5bn
specifically allotted for Africa.

 

 

 

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