Net 1 UEPS Technologies has signed relationship agreements with its BEE partners for the issuance of 4,4-million shares, partially restricted as to resale for a period of five years.
In terms of the agreements, Net1 will issue 4,1-million shares of our common stock at a price of R60.00 per share (calculated as 75% of the closing price of common stock on the JSE on 6 December 2013) to Business Venture Investments 1567 and 300 000 shares to Born Free Investments 272.
In order to facilitate the transactions, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Net1 Applied Technologies South Africa will lend the funds to the BEE partners at a market-related interest rate to effect the purchase of the BEE shares, which will act as the collateral for the loan. The loan is repayable over a period of five years and the transactions are subject to certain conditions, including obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals.
“Having signed our relationship agreements we continue to make strides towards concluding our BEE transaction, which we believe epitomises the spirit of the meaningful transformation that the late President Mandela fought and stood for,” says Dr Serge Belamant, chairman and CEO of Net1.
“Our actions in this regard lay the foundation for a long-term sustainable business in South Africa together with the addition of BEE partners, who we expect to be actively engaged in identifying and driving new growth opportunities for the company.”
Net1 provides alternative payment systems that leverage its Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS) to facilitate biometrically secure, realtime electronic transaction processing to unbanked and under-banked populations of developing economies around the world in an online or offline environment.