MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Verdant Raises $7.5m in Debt Financing for Retail Capital for Merchant Cash Advances to South African SMEs

Verdant Capital, a Mauritius-based corporate finance firm operating in Africa, recently raised local currency totaling the equivalent of USD 7.5 million from unspecified international investors for South Africa’s Retail Capital to expand its merchant cash advance business. Retail lends to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make repayments on the loans daily, based on a percentage of sales they take in via payment cards.

Retail is one of the three founding members of the South African SME Finance Association, which has established a code of conduct for “responsible” lending to SMEs in the country.

This is the first foreign funding that Retail has accessed. The firm was founded in 2011 and has three offices, all in South Africa. As of March, it has total assets of ZAR 285 million (USD 24 million).

Verdant, which has offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa, served Retail as sole financial advisor and arranger on the transaction. Verdant provides capital raising and financial advisory services to financial technology (fintech) firms and traditional financial institutions, as well as merger and acquisition advice in the financial and non-financial segments.

Sources and additional resources

Direct contact with Verdant Capital

Retail Capital’s lending model
https://www.retailcapital.co.za/how-it-works/

South African SME Finance Association Code of Conduct
http://sasfa.net/documents/SASFA%20-%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20final.pdf

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