Egypt's Halan says Turkish acquisition to help expand consumer credit, factoring
By Patrick Werr
CAIRO, July 31 (Reuters) -Egyptian microfinance lending and payments company MNT-Halan's recent purchase of Turkey's biggest nonbank microleasing company will help develop its factoring business in Egypt while expanding consumer credit in Turkey, its chief executive said.
MNT-Halan, Egypt's first unicorn - or privately held venture capital company worth more than $1 billion - said the purchase was possible only after the Egyptian government's $35 billion sale in February of the Ras El-Hekma development on the Mediterranean coast which helped stabilise government finances.
After the sale, Egypt signed a $8 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund, which included allowing Egypt's currency to move according to market forces.
MNT-Halan paid more than $150 million for the Turkish company, Tam Finans, in cash and in shares, CEO Mounir Nakhla told Reuters.
Tam Finans, operating through a network of 39 branches, has more than 40% of the Turkish micro-leasing market in terms of number of customers served, Nakhla said.
MNT-Halan used most of the $157.5 million in finance it had secured the previous week to complete the purchase. It also turned over between 5% and 10% of its shares to Actera, the Turkish private equity group that owned most of Tam Finans.
"They have a very deep experience in factoring, which we currently do not do, but we're about to get the (Egyptian) licence next month," Nakhla said, referring to transactions where the finance firm provides immediate cash in exchange for invoices.
"So they will add value to everything to do with factoring in Egypt."
Tam Finans, with a loan book of $300 million, has focussed on lending to small businesses, whereas MNT-Halan, with its loan book of $600 million, has built up experience providing credit to mostly unbanked consumers, Nakhla said.
The Turkish firm's average loan is 82 days, while MNT-Halan's is 18 months.
MNT-Halan plans to use its expertise to introduce its electronic wallets popular in Egypt into the Turkish market.
Reporting by Patrick Werr; editing by Miral Fahmy
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