Fintech startup MC Payment to acquire iFashion Group, proceed with reverse takeover plans

MC Payment founder and CEO Anthony Koh (R) during the opening of the startup’s office in Thailand in 2016 / Photo credit: MC Payment

Veteran fintech startup MC Payment announced that it will acquire iFashion Group, an online fashion and lifestyle retailer in Singapore.

According to documents filed with the Singapore Exchange, MC Payment will acquire iFashion in full for up to US$18.7 million. The lifestyle platform itself has adopted a model of growth via acquisitions, snapping up fashion and ecommerce labels in Southeast Asia including Dressabelle, Megafash, and Nose.

The iFashion Group said last year that it planned to go public by the end of 2017, likely in Australia or Europe.

The documents state that the acquisition will “allow [MC Payment] to offer payment solutions to the diverse range of retail businesses within the iFashion Group.”

At the same time, MC Payment and SGX Catalist-listed Artivision Technologies have agreed to go forward with an acquisition deal first announced late last year – a move that will result in a reverse takeover.

In a reverse takeover, a company goes public on the stock market by having an already-listed firm buy up all of its share capital.

The Artivision-MC Payment deal was initially pegged at US$59 million, but the consideration might go up by US$15 million, pending a new fundraise of up to US$9 million by MC Payment. The conditional agreement is subject to shareholder approval.

MC Payment was founded in 2005 and has been developing electronic payments solutions even before smartphones became mainstream. The company has a presence throughout Southeast Asia, and in Australia and China.

In February, it partnered with restaurant operator Sakae Holdings to develop a blockchain product and launch Bitecoin, an Ethereum-based token for transactions in the food and beverage industry.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Converted from Singapore dollars. US$1 = S$1.33

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from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/mc-payment-ifashion-acquisition-artivision
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