London listing of Bayport Management, an African consumer lending company, is on the cards. It may take place in the first half of 2020, though the company has not come out with the exact date of listing. The company is looking forward to raise US $ 800 million from the listing, as per the grapevine in the corporate circles.
Bayport, founded in 2002 and is focused mainly on lending to government employees has hired Citi, JP Morgan and Standard Bank as joint global coordinators for the deal. With a technical listing in Mauritius stock exchange, the financial firm is also active in insurance business
Bayport mostly targets government employees and civil servants, who have job security rather than private sector employees, who often face job breaks and other uncertainties in their career. That way, the fintech can hedge the risk since repayment from the private sector can have uncertainty. The financial firm is one of two Africa-focused financial services entities set to tap a London IPO in the first half of 2020. The other is Inters witch, which www.trendsnafrica . com had reported earlier. The Interswitch is looking at mobilizing US$ 1 billion. Recently, Visa Inc bought a stake in the firm earlier this year that gave it a valuation of US$1 billion.
