Private Equity Fund Supports Nigerian Cash Solution Provider

• Private Equity Fund Supports Nigerian Cash Solution Provider

A private equity fund manager, Apis Partners, has said that it would back cash management solutions provider, Bankers Warehouse Plc, with an undisclosed amount.

The emerging market-focused fund manager, which disclosed this, said the investment would be used to boost the company’s existing cash processing and cash-in-transit services, strengthen its capital structure, offer additional cash management solutions and grow its coverage.

Lagos-based Bankers Warehouse is the only local company with a license to process cash and one of five licensed to convey bank notes in armoured trucks from one point to another for its clients, which range from financial institutions to corporates and the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), as deduced from its website.

Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Mr. Matteo Stefanel said: “We see a significant opportunity to further leverage technology within cash logistics to increase convertibility of digital and physical cash thereby augmenting user confidence and inclusion within the digital financial system.”

He however declined to state the amount being invested.

Apis’ backing of Bankers Warehouse is the second such private equity deal in the Nigerian financial services sector in the past month, after Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara raised $200 million to boost holdings in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, aimed at helping the latter expand its markets, treasury and financial technology businesses, according to an official statement released at the time.

The investment in Bankers Warehouse demonstrates Apis’ commitment to reducing the cost of financial intermediation in its target markets, according to Rotimi Oyekanmi, a partner at Apis, which is present in five countries and has completed five investments to date.

Oyekanmi added: “The company plays a critical role in Nigeria’s financial infrastructure and financial intermediation through its core cash management solutions and we look forward to supporting Bankers Warehouse as it improves the functioning of the country’s financial system by ensuring the integrity and availability of cash, as well as its efficient processing and digitisation.”

On the part of Bankers Warehouse the Vice chairman, Victor Hammond said: “The last 18 months securing bank credit for us was tough, we could not even raise foreign exchange to procure spare parts for our trucks, we had to cancel our contracts with about two banks.”