EGX-listed fintech giant e-Finance has acquired minority stakes in two digital payment companies, Al Ahly Momkn and EasyCash for Digital Payments, the company said in a statement (pdf), without detailing the value of either transaction.

The size of the stakes: E-Finance acquired a 25% stake in Al Ahly Momkn — a subsidiary of the National Bank of Egypt’s investment arm Al Ahly Capital Holding — with the NBE holding the remaining 75%. Meanwhile, e-Finance acquired a 13% stake in state-owned EasyCash.

We saw this coming: An Enterprise source in November told us that e-Finance is in talks to acquire two unnamed retail-focused digital payments.

The rationale: The acquisitions will facilitate e-Finance’s entry into the retail payments market, our source said in November, while also expanding the company’s reach to new customer bases, the statement added. Subsidiary e-Khales currently operates in the market as a bill payment aggregator but does not yet operate its own point-of-sale machines. The retail market is projected to grow in size to EGP 1.5 tn by 2027-2028.

What’s next? The transactions will be implemented in the OTC market on the EGX this month through Al Ahly Pharos Securities Brokerage, added Asharq Business, citing unnamed sources it said are close to the acquisitions.

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