MNT-Halan Acquires Talabeyah, Integrated FMCG E-commerce and Distribution Platform

DIGITAL ACCESS TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MERCHANTS ACROSS EGYPT TO CROSS-SELL AND SPUR GROWTH ACROSS LENDING, PAYMENTS, AND E-COMMERCE

CAIRO, Egypt--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MNT-Halan, Egypt’s leading fintech player, announced today the acquisition of Talabeyah, a B2B e-commerce platform that offers FMCG supplies directly to small merchants, retailers, and soon, consumers, meeting all their requirements with next-day delivery. As a result of this transaction, MNT-Halan will be disrupting the current multi-layered and fragmented FMCG supply chain model and empowering small merchants.

MNT-Halan’s digital ecosystem includes small business and consumer lending, payments, and e-commerce. Adding a digital FMCG offering to MNT-Halan’s merchant network greatly enhances the company’s breadth and scope and increases stickiness to its ecosystem.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Talabeyah was founded in 2020 by Karim Nassef, Amr Abbas, and Khaled Hussein to disrupt and digitize the informal FMCG market in Egypt by leveraging technology, an innovative supply chain model, and the founders’ extensive experience in the FMCG sector. Talabeyah’s digital platform provides small retailers immediate access to an extensive range of products, clear visibility on pricing, and a highly reliable quality of service to help them optimally manage their businesses.

Commenting on the acquisition, MNT-Halan CEO, Mounir Nakhla, said, “The acquisition of Talabeyah is another step in our strategy of building a comprehensive digital ecosystem and is a perfect fit for our two companies. Talabeyah has developed an elaborate online catalogue, signed contracts with the largest FMCG suppliers, and demonstrated solid execution of its operations. MNT-Halan will enable Talabeyah to scale nationwide by providing access to hundreds of thousands of merchants and retailers, financing their customers’ purchases and backing the firm with our 120 tech engineers. I am excited to partner with Karim and his talented team to continue to extend our product offering to Egyptian retailers and further grow our loan book and margins.”

Karim Nassef, CEO of Talabeyah, added, “We are happy to have finally reached the closing and are very much looking forward to growing our business nationwide. Teaming with MNT-Halan provides us with extensive talent and technological and financial power to allow us to rapidly scale our operations. We are thrilled to be part of MNT-Halan’s vision and are excited to expand cross border with them.”

VanCampen Liem, Maatouk, Bassiouny & Hennawy, White & Case, and Van Doorne were legal advisors on the transaction.

About MNT-Halan

MNT-Halan is Egypt’s leading fintech ecosystem and the largest and fastest growing lender to the unbanked and underbanked. Founded in 2018, with roots dating back to 2010, the company is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. MNT-Halan was created to digitally bank the unbanked and substitute cash with electronic solutions. The MNT-Halan digital ecosystem includes small and micro business lending, payments, consumer finance, and e-commerce. With c.1 million monthly active users, MNT-Halan serves more than 4 million customers in Egypt, of which 3.1 million are financial clients and 1.8 million are borrowers. MNT-Halan has obtained the micro, consumer and nano finance licenses from the Financial Regulatory Authority enabling it to provide services to both businesses and consumers across Egypt. It has also obtained the first independent electronic wallet license from the Central Bank of Egypt to disburse, collect and transfer money digitally through mobile applications. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.mnt-halan.com.