South African digital banking giant Capitec has acquired payment processor Walletdoc in a deal worth up to R400m ($23.5m), signaling a fresh offensive in the country’s fiercely contested merchant services battleground.
The acquisition, signed on December 5 and announced Monday, sees the Stellenbosch-based bank take full ownership of the 10-year-old fintech. The move is a clear bid to wrestle market share from incumbents and agile challengers like Yoco and Nedbank in the SME payments space.
The Deal Mechanics
Capitec is paying a premium for the established payment stack. The deal structure includes:
- R300m ($17.6m) in upfront cash.
- R100m ($5.9m) in deferred earn-outs payable over three years.
- The earn-out is pegged to performance milestones and Capitec’s share price, locking in the founders during the integration phase.
Subject to regulatory approval, the deal provides a definitive exit for Walletdoc’s founders, Leonard Shenker and Dan Wagner, who launched the company in 2015.
Read more: https://launchbaseafrica.com/2025/12/08/walletdoc-founders-exit-as-capitec-acquires-fintech-for-23-5m/
