Letshego raises $45.5M as pension fund moves to majority control
What's the deal? Letshego Africa Holdings has raised P631.9 million (about $45.5 million) from a rights offer, with the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → set to take up most of the new shares. The Botswana-listed microlender offered 1.096 billion shares at P0.73 each, a roughly 13.1% discount to its 30-day average price.
Why now? The raise is central to a wider reset. First-half 2026 profit after tax rose 25% to P226.9 million, but operating income fell 8% amid subdued lending and rising funding costs.
What's the endgame? Letshego is shrinking into a leaner regional business, proposing to sell operations in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda to focus on higher-return markets. Proceeds will mainly cut holding-company debt and settle amounts owed to certain shareholders.
Group chief executive officer Reinette van der Merwe called the offer "a considered step in strengthening Letshego's capital base and positioning the Group for its next phase."
Who's in? BPOPF, Letshego's largest shareholder with 37.2%, fully underwrote the offer. Outside the pension fund, participation was limited: other shareholders took up 14.09% of the offer, with BPOPF absorbing the remaining 734 million shares as underwriter.
Chief executive officer of Letshego Holdings Namibia Ester Kali subscribed for about P297,936 of shares, and director Thari Gilbert Pheko for P12,357.
What could go wrong? The full P800 million target was not met. Some 230.3 million shares, worth P168.1 million, remain subject to regulatory clearance, including from the Competition and Consumer Authority. If approval fails, the raise concludes at P631.9 million, with no further shares issued.
The signal: A pension fund stepping in to absorb shares existing investors passed on marks a shift from bridge funding — BPOPF repaid a separate P483 million facility in September — toward a more durable capital structure. It also hands the fund greater sway over Letshego's strategic reset as it moves toward majority control.
Read more: bwtechzone.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
