Zedcrest buys Leatherback to step up its African cross‑border payments ambitions
On 27 July 2026, Zedcrest Group Managing Director Adedayo Amzat announced that the Nigerian financial group had completed the full acquisition of UK‑based cross‑border payments fintech Leatherback, turning its initial stake into a strategic takeover. The group, already active in investment banking, asset management and securities services, is using this deal, closed on 27 July 2026, to deepen its ambitions in global payments.
Zedcrest’s leadership frames the acquisition as a response to what it sees as an underpenetrated opportunity in borderless financial services, by integrating a payments platform that was already operating in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and several other emerging markets. The transaction is presented as a new phase of growth, with the group seeking to build a more comprehensive financial services platform focused on payments infrastructure and cross‑border financial inclusion.
An investor‑fintech relationship turning into full control
According to Zedcrest, the acquisition crowns a relationship that began in 2021 and was cemented in April 2022, when the group led a 10 million USD pre‑seed funding round in Leatherback to finance expansion across several African and Middle Eastern jurisdictions. This move fits into Zedcrest’s broader strategy of investing in financial infrastructure through vehicles focused on African capital markets.
The undisclosed‑value deal shifts Zedcrest from a major institutional backer to sole owner of a payments platform described as critical for remittance and trade flows linking Africa with Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Leatherback will continue to operate under its own brand, but embedded within the Zedcrest ecosystem to pool capabilities in compliance, foreign exchange and trade finance.
