JSE announced on Thursday that it has agreed the terms of a commercial arrangement with Globacap Technology (Globacap) to establish a blockchain-enabled private placements platform.
The company said the platform will enable the raising of infrastructure finance and to
allow small-to-medium sized issuers to raise capital in South Africa.
The deal includes digital registry services, and remains subject to licensing approval requirements.
“As private capital markets continue to grow in importance, and are an increasingly attractive alternative source of capital for issuers, the JSE intends to create a centralised platform for issuers to effectively and efficiently raise capital,” the JSE said.
“These efforts align directly with the Group’s stated growth strategy.”
The JSE will invest GBP4 million (R82 million) for a minority stake in Globacap. The investment remains subject to the fulfilment of conditions precedent, including approval from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
The Investment allows the JSE to forge a closer working association with Globacap in developing the requisite skills, expertise and relationships to digitise products and services,
and implement next-generation technologies.
Through this collaboration, the JSE intends to replicate and adapt Globacap’s private markets and registry strategy and product offering across African markets, while reducing the execution risk of expanding into new markets and products.
The investment will be funded from the Group’s existing cash reserves and is expected to be finalised during Q1 2021.
The Globacap platform provides seamless, end-to-end fund raising management tools designed to automate private issuances in the equity and debt capital markets.
The platform also offers second round liquidity capabilities that enable holders of equity or
debt instruments to exit or syndicate their original investment. Additionally, Globacap offers a complementary digital registrar service that digitises and simplifies the administration of
shareholder registers.
Globacap is a next-generation capital markets fintech company offering blockchain solutions for private capital markets and digital registry services. It is registered and
headquartered in the United Kingdom (UK), and through its regulated private placement and capital management platform, digitally administers over £1 billion of private shares and debt instruments for 60 companies and over 8 000 shareholders worldwide.
