Africas most valuable lender, FirstRand Ltd., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 20.1 percent stake in Optasia, a Dubai-based fintech firm founded by Nigerian-Lebanese tycoon Bassim Haidar, in a deal valued at up to 279 million ahead of Optasias planned listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE .
Under the terms of the agreement, seven existing investors sold about 251.4 million shares to FirstRand at an average price of R19 1.1 per share, raising roughly R4.78 billion 279 million and valuing the company at R24 billion 1.4 billion.
A strategic bet on emerging market credit