20 March 2024
• News
31 March 2021
Apis Growth Fund II announces the sale of its interest in Tutuka to Salt Pay
London, 31 March, 2021: Apis Growth Fund II (the “Fund”), a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis”) has entered into an agreement to sell the whole of its interest in third-party payments enabler International Tutuka Holdings Ltd (“Tutuka”) to Salt Pay Co Ltd (“SaltPay”).
The Fund invested in Tutuka in August 2019, acquiring a 62.6% shareholding in the company. Over the course of the investment, Apis has leveraged its expansive network in global financial services to help Tutuka grow its international presence and has seen the company more than double the number of clients onboarded annually. As a result of the transactions the Fund will become a shareholder in SaltPay and will continue to play an integral role in assisting Tutuka with its continued growth. Tutuka’s management team will remain as management and shareholders.
Tutuka is a leading global card issuer processor operating across emerging markets and is active in 33 markets across five continents. It is known for its unique processor plus model that helps fintechs, telcos, transfer providers, mobile wallets and digital banks issue Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay cards. The organization has performed strongly, especially during Covid, with both client pipeline and profits showing significant growth during the Fund’s investment.
SaltPay is a provider of payments and value-add software solutions to Europe-based SMEs. The acquisition of the Fund’s interest in Tutuka will enable SaltPay to accelerate merchant growth by providing a new suite of services in the issuing vertical.
“Tutuka has capitalised on the acceleration of the structural shift from cash to electronic payment; improving financial inclusion in the digital economy through the issuance of physical and virtual payment cards”, said Apis Partners’ Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Matteo Stefanel. “We are excited to continue along this journey and to deliver greater financial access and convenience on a truly global scale.”
“We are delighted that SaltPay has identified Tutuka as accretive to its own business as it seeks to provide an end-to-end solution to its customers around the world”, said Apis Partners’ Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Udayan Goyal. “The addition of this essential component to the SaltPay product offering will deliver significant benefits to all its stakeholders.”
Tutuka CEO, Rowan Brewer added, “We’re excited to be joining this journey with SaltPay to expand our service to clients and reach our ambition of processing across more than 100 countries. As management, we are proud to remain as shareholders”.
The Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.
About Apis Partners LLP
Apis Partners LLP is an ESGI-native global private equity asset manager that supports growth stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Apis Partners LLP, through its team of c. 30 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of over US$ 1B.
Including its headquarters in London, Apis Partners LLP has representation in seven countries across Europe, North, East and West Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
Apis Partners LLP is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion is a core tenet of Apis Partners LLP’s approach and investment mandate.
About Tutuka
Tutuka is a third-party payments enabler that makes payments happen by enabling its clients’ customers to pay with Mastercard, Visa, and Union Pay cards and products.
Tutuka enables fintechs, mobile wallets, apps, and banks across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America to issue virtual and physical cards and other Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay payment products. Tutuka’s Processor Plus model allows its clients to easily, cost-effectively, and quickly link into card schemes without the complexity and slow timelines typically associated with traditional processors.
About SaltPay
SaltPay, a Fintech with 10 offices across Europe and South Africa, provides SMB business management solutions and FinTech as a service offerings. SaltPay’s merchant proposition provides a full-stack solution to help SMBs more efficiently manage and grow their businesses through a product suite of payment acceptance, loyalty and CRM, ordering, ePOS and issuing capabilities that bridge the merchant consumer relationship. SaltPay also provides cloud-based payments and business management software as a service to global FinTechs, payment providers, banks, and MNOs.
