Fintech CashPlus plots $82m IPO on Moroccan exchange

Moroccan fintech CashPlus has secured approval to list on the Casablanca Stock Exchange in a planned 750m dirham ($82m) initial public offering, in a move that one analyst says demonstrates the North African country’s capital markets are “broadening and deepening.”

CashPlus – which has approximately two million daily users in Morocco and net profits last year of $23.5m – will float 3.8 million shares priced at 200 dirhams ($22) each in a sale that represents a 15.5% stake of the company.

The offers a range of services including money transfers, bill and tax payments, currency exchange, and parcel delivery through a network of physical branches and a mobile app.

The bulk of the share offering will be reserved for institutional investors and high-net worth individuals buying a minimum of 15,000 shares each, with 38% allocated to the general public with no minimum requirements. Just over 5% will be offered to company employees at a discounted price of 160 dirhams.

Listings boost for exchange

The listing comes at a time when the Moroccan government and regulators are working to boost the country’s capital markets in order to attract more foreign capital to the country. Current activity on the Casablanca Stock Exchange remains relatively limited, with an average of two or three listings per year.

In a bid to rectify this, Morocco, in collaboration with international partners such as the World Bank, has implemented structural reforms to modernise the exchange. The country is also finalising plans to introduce a derivatives market, which would allow investors to trade and manage risk more efficiently, and has introduced a range of new financial instruments such as sukuks and green bonds to broaden financing options.

Raef Kawar, a partner at Rabat-based investment banking firm EuraBridge, tells African Business that “Morocco has understood that to be able to attract more capital, we need to have the standards that potential investors are looking for.”

“This is something that is fundamental if you want the Casablanca Stock Exchange to grow and to pave the way for more companies to list,” he says. “Previously foreign investors did not see Morocco as a target for public or private financial investments.”

“People were often cautious of investing in Morocco, perhaps because the regulations were perceived as not being up to the standards needed to protect international firms and so on. But particularly since the recent reforms, we are having more and more conversations with people interested in investing.”

Kawar points out that the 2022 IPO of Akdital, a Moroccan private hospital operator, was 3.77 times oversubscribed – whereas this year’s listing of healthtech firm Groupe Vicenne was 64 times oversubscribed.

“You can see the evolution over the last three years,” he says.

Momentum building

The CashPlus listing – which is also significant in being the first listing of a non-bank financial institution in Morocco – is likely to provide a further boost to a market in which economic momentum is building. The run up to the 2030 World Cup has prompted a flurry of major infrastructure projects and investment drives, while the Moroccan All Shares Index (MASI), which has strengthened by more than 30% in the last twelve months.

Kawar says that “every successful listing broadens and deepens Casablanca’s market. It builds trust and also attracts new local and international investors – providing evidence that listing on the Moroccan stock exchange can bring substantial returns.”

“The CashPlus IPO will hopefully continue this trend, unlocking more and more confidence.”