MOROCCO – Mediterrania Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth investments for SMEs and mid-cap companies in North Africa and Sub-Saharan countries, has sold its remaining stake in Cash Plus, an independent money transfer company in Morocco, to a group of Moroccan family offices.
The investment was aimed at supporting the company’s aggressive expansion plans and launching new products and services, significantly widening its portfolio and customer reach.
Founded in 2004, Cash Plus is Morocco’s leading independent money transfer and low-income financial services provider, offering access to a comprehensive portfolio of inclusive financial products including currency exchange services, online payments of purchases and taxes and other banking services for low-income customers.
In July 2014, Mediterrania Capital Partners entered Cash Plus’s equity by acquiring a 49% stake and in May 2019, it sold part of its stake in Cash Plus to Groupe Richbond.
“In four and a half years we have helped transform Cash Plus into a leading financial services company by strengthening its governance, upgrading its systems and establishing a strong discipline in the decision-making process at all levels of its organisation,” Hatim Ben Ahmed, Partner at Mediterrania Capital Partners, said.
“Cash Plus’s extremely talented management team embraced the change and took the company to its next level of growth while setting the right foundations for sustainable development.”
Under Mediterrania Capital’s partial ownership, Cash Plus’s annual revenues quadrupled and EBITDA jumped six-fold, while the company expanded its presence by increasing the number of points of sale from 360 to nearly 2,000.
“The entry of Mediterrania Capital Partners in 2014 was an enormous push to Cash Plus,” Nabil Amar, Cash Plus’s Deputy CEO, said.
“With Mediterrania’s financial and operational support, Cash Plus entered a new era that included a major restructuring plan and rebranding strategy, the acquisition and integration of Eurosol in 2015, the start of key partnerships with banks, telecom operators and utility providers, the granting of a Payment Licence by the Moroccan Central Bank and the digitalisation of our products and services, all benefiting the lives of thousands of customers across Morocco and abroad.
“Thanks to Mediterrania, Cash Plus is nowadays a stronger company with a long-term vision and a very promising future.”
Mediterrania also helped Cash Plus obtain a Payment Licence from the Moroccan Central Bank, allowing the company to offer its customers low-income banking services, and helped the company develop its own ERP system and launch several web-based and mobile applications (Cash Plus Mobile Wallet).
This enabled customers to open a free mobile account and benefit from its online services such as carrying out transactions, receiving transfers, paying bills, locating Cash Plus agencies and refilling their phone credit.
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