South Africa’s Bank Zero, Lesaka to Combine in $61 Million Deal

South African digital lender Bank Zero Mutual Bank, founded by the former chief of one of the country’s top lenders, is combining with a unit of fintech firm Lesaka Technologies Inc. in a 1.91 billion-rand ($61 million) deal.

Lesaka, which trades on both the Nasdaq and Johannesburg bourses, will buy all of the lender founded and chaired by Michael Jordaan, the former chief executive officer of FirstRand Ltd.’s First National Bank unit, pending regulatory approvals, the companies said in a statement Thursday.