# TA Associates Announces Minority Investment in Interswitch  Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2017-03-07 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: TA Associates Acquires Minority Equity Stake in Interswitch Meta Description: Read about TA Associates' acquisition of a minority stake in Interswitch, a prominent digital payments company in Africa, to enhance financial inclusion URL: https://financedigest.com/ta-associates-announces-minority-investment-in-interswitchhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/businessman-in-officesksnx-1736844120236-compressed.jpg) TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, today announced it has acquired a minority equity interest in Interswitch, an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Helios Investment Partners will remain the majority shareholder of Interswitch. Founded in 2002, Interswitch is active across the entire [payments value chain](https://www.financedigest.com/gonorrhea-therapeutics-market-value-share-supply-demand-share-and-value-chain-2021-2031.html "Gonorrhea Therapeutics Market Value Share, Supply Demand, share and Value Chain 2021-2031"). A recognized leader in the payments space in Nigeria, the company owns and operates the country’s principal domestic debit card scheme, Verve, as well as serves as a third-party transaction processor for many of Nigeria’s largest banks. In addition, the [company offers](https://www.financedigest.com/passendo-partners-with-leading-media-company-audienzz-to-revolutionise-its-ad-offer-in-a-portfolio-of-over-70-premium-newsletters.html "Passendo partners with leading media company, audienzz, to revolutionise its ad offer in a portfolio of over 70 premium newsletters") a number of B2B electronic payment services to public and private sector organizations and businesses, including government entities, hospitals, telecommunications companies and utilities, and also operates Quickteller, the leading B2C bill payments and digital commerce platform in Nigeria. Through add-on acquisitions, Interswitch also operates in Kenya and Uganda. “By strategically partnering and aligning its interests with key banks, merchants and other institutions, Interswitch has become a leading provider for payments solutions in an emerging and rapidly growing market in Nigeria,” said Naveen Wadhera, a Managing Director at TA Associates who will join the Interswitch Board of Directors. “Interswitch is a unique, high quality and strategic asset located in one of [Africa’s leading](https://www.financedigest.com/cricket-fiery-stokes-revives-england-but-s-africa-build-good-lead.html "Cricket-Fiery Stokes revives England but S Africa build good lead") economies. We are delighted to expand upon our longstanding presence within the [global payments industry through our partnership with](https://www.financedigest.com/cavai-and-mediamath-announce-global-partnership-to-deliver-conversational-advertising-programmatically.html "Cavai and MediaMath announce global partnership to deliver conversational advertising programmatically") the management team and Helios, and look forward to helping Interswitch continue to expand its business.” “Since our founding, we have been committed to creating social, environmental and economic value by facilitating trade through forms of exchange that are secure, convenient and consistent,” said Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Managing Director at Interswitch Limited. “Keeping that in mind, we believe a partnership with a growth [private equity](https://www.financedigest.com/can-private-equity-do-for-africas-manufacturers-what-its-done-for-f1-and-rugby.html "Can private equity do for Africa’s manufacturers what it’s done for F1 and rugby?") firm such as TA Associates will prove highly beneficial to our ongoing efforts of consolidating the impact of our services and increasing financial inclusion for all. We welcome TA as our newest investor and look forward to benefitting from their [experience in the payments](https://www.financedigest.com/how-netflix-justeat-and-uber-raised-the-bar-for-the-payments-experience.html "How Netflix, JustEat and Uber raised the bar for the payments experience") space and their valuable insight and support.” “With our investment in Interswitch in 2011, we backed a talented founder and management team, and have worked hand-in-hand with them to institutionalize the business and build the platform, spearheading [growth not only in their core processing and card scheme businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/euro-zone-business-growth-slowed-in-may-as-factories-struggled-pmi.html "Euro zone business growth slowed in May as factories struggled-PMI") but also into mobile payments, expansion into East Africa and the launching of products and services to address the unbanked – driving financial inclusion. As the majority investor in Interswitch, we look forward to working with the company’s [first-rate management](https://www.financedigest.com/big-companies-manage-to-pass-on-soaring-costs-to-cash-strapped-consumers.html "Big companies manage to pass on soaring costs to cash-strapped consumers") team and TA Associates to drive the next phase of the company’s growth,” said AlykhanNathoo, Partner at Helios Investment Partners. BabatundeSoyoye, Helios’s co-founder and Managing Partner, added, “For TA Associates to have made Interswitch their first investment in Africa we believe is a testament to Interswitch’s successful growth trajectory to date, and the quality and resilience of its brand and business model. We are confident that TA’s domain expertise and [global reach](https://www.financedigest.com/global-frozen-pizza-market-value-projected-to-reach-us-32-89-bn-by-2031.html "Global Frozen Pizza Market value projected to reach US$ 32.89 Bn by 2031") will benefit Interswitch as we move forward together in partnership.” The digital payments evolution is in the early stages of development in Nigeria, with cash used for 99% of transactions according to McKinsey & Company, versus approximately 50% for [developed markets in North America](https://www.financedigest.com/north-america-residential-wood-flooring-market-expansive-coverage-on-the-latest-trends-and-developments-in-the-market.html "North America Residential Wood Flooring Market – Expansive Coverage on the Latest Trends and Developments in the Market") and Europe. Despite the young market, the [size of the Nigerian payments opportunity is](https://www.financedigest.com/cable-cars-and-ropeways-market-report-size-growth-demand-scope-opportunities-and-forecast-2016-2026-fmi.html "Cable Cars and Ropeways Market Report | Size, Growth, Demand, Scope, Opportunities and Forecast 2016-2026: FMI") underpinned by its continent-leading population and sizeable economy. Based on estimates from McKinsey & Company, Interswitch occupies a leading position in the emerging marketplace, especially in debit cards, which comprise 99% of all cards in Nigeria. “We strongly believe in the [global trend](https://www.financedigest.com/digital-pcr-market-2021-global-leading-companies-analysis-revenue-trends-and-forecasts-2027.html "Digital PCR Market 2021 Global Leading Companies Analysis, Revenue, Trends and Forecasts 2027") towards payment digitalization,” said AjitNedungadi, a Managing Partner at TA Associates who will also join the Interswitch Board of Directors. “Given [Interswitch’s impressive reach into Nigeria’s payment ecosystem, we expect a continuation of the company’s impressive growth](https://www.financedigest.com/e-commerce-fulfillment-services-market-to-reflect-impressive-growth-rate-to-during-forecast-period-observes-tmr.html "E-commerce Fulfillment Services Market to Reflect Impressive Growth Rate to During Forecast Period, Observes TMR") and are honored to have the opportunity to partner with what we believe to be a fantastic management team and a leading African investor.” Interswitch joins TA Associates’ other current and past payment processing investments worldwide, including BluePay Processing, Cardtronics, IndiaIdeas.com (BillDesk), Procare Software, Retriever Medical/Dental Payments, W.A.G. payment solutions (Eurowag) and YeePay. Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel to TA Associates. Debevoise& Plimpton served as legal counsel to Helios Investment Partners. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---