ABnote has taken a 35% stake in Value+Nettwork's Crossgate unit for an undisclosed amount.
Crossgate is the products and payments business unit of portfolio company Opengate, and has been taken out of Value+'s Opengate business and named Crossgate. The companies already had a working relationship, as the US company manufactures the cards for Crossgate.
Crossgate also provides mobile payment technologies, such as near-field communication, developed by ABnote's Mobile Solutions divisions. ABnote has provided product innovation and new payment technologies to Crossgate since Crossgate's inception in 2007.
David de Coning, CEO of Crossgate, notes the deal means the companies will "be even more aligned in our approach to focus on growth markets".
William Kirsh, founder and CEO of Value+Nettwork, adds ABnote's technology will "also accelerate and enhance Value+Nettwork's growing loyalty capabilities".
Opengate also operates a network business unit, which distributes, activates and processes prepaid transactions for large digital content and financial services organisations via mainstream retail, online and other channels. This will continue to be a mutually beneficial opportunity for Crossgate and Opengate in growth markets, Value+ says in a statement.
ABnote CEO Steven Singer, who has also been appointed Crossgate chairman, adds the company's investment "will be the catalyst for providing products, services and technology to customers as we expand throughout Africa".
Value+ was three years in the making and centres on distributing "value", which it defines as any form of rewards, such as discounts or benefits. It's the holding company for eight strategically aligned businesses and has an acquisition programme targeted at making it the largest owner and distributor of what it terms "value categories" to corporate loyalty programmes and direct to consumer. It also has a focus on acquiring or developing unique digital technology.
Last month, it bought a 37% holding in messaging aggregation tool Colony, with the option to increase its stake to 51%. This came on the back of its October purchase of a 51% stake in The Loyalty Box - a specialist loyalty, rewards and analytics company - with the founders retaining 49%.
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