|
Listen now
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Jumia Technologies AG, the biggest e-commerce company in Africa, has drawn takeover interest from telecommunications company Axian Telecom, Bloomberg reported.
Axian, which is based in Mauritius and primarily offers telecommunications services in Africa, raised $600 million this week to refinance its debt and help fund a possible takeover of Jumia, according to Blomberg.
No final decisions have been made and the companies may not come to an agreement, they said. Jumia has a market value of about $500 million.
The deal would help both companies expand across the continent, the people said.
Jumia, which started in Nigeria in 2012 and held an initial public offering in New York in 2019, could be delisted in any deal.
Axian has been building a stake in the company, and announced in May that it held 8% of shares.
Jumia’s American depositary receipts jumped 5.7% to $4.25 at 10:54 a.m. in New York after earlier surging as much as 17%, the biggest intraday gain since May. The stock has risen 11% this year.
Often referred to as the “Amazon of Africa,” Jumia has had to do its own mapping in some of its markets and set up logistics networks to cater to a young and increasingly tech-savvy population that uses smartphones to bridge gaps in infrastructure and services.
It was one of the first African companies to achieve “unicorn” status with a valuation of more than $1 billion, but its shares have declined significantly since the IPO.
Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!
