Deposita is the South African market leader in cash devices and related cash-in-transit, cash processing and insurance for the retail sector.

The acquisition of Deposita is to be undertaken by G4S Cash Solutions (SA) Proprietary Limited (“G4S”), a leading provider of cash solutions in South Africa, from AFGRI Operations (Pty) Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of AFRGI Limited) and Fox Business Trust (“Fox”). Upon completion, G4S will own 87% of the shares in Deposita and pay total consideration of R114 million (£8.2m) post debt restructuring.

The acquisition of Deposita will significantly strengthen G4S’s position in the South African retail cash technology marketplace, which is forecast to grow rapidly over the next three years. It also provides G4S with:

• The best in-store device cash technology solution in the South African market
• Differentiation, via the addition of these services, to the existing G4S cash solutions offering
• Opportunities to export this technology solution into other G4S African countries, including Botswana, Malawi, Kenya and Namibia
• Synergies through insourcing cash-in-transit, cash processing and insurance services which are currently outsourced to third parties

Deposita is the largest provider of device technology in the retail cash market in South Africa, offering customers a complete cash solution by:

• Taking over the process of securing and counting cash notes on premises
• Safely storing cash notes on customer premises
• Transporting the cash to cash centres
• Same-day settlement of funds into bank accounts

Deposita was founded in 2004 and has expanded its operations throughout South Africa. It is headquartered in Midrand, Gauteng and employs 165 staff across the country.

Wessel Oosthuizen (CEO) and the remainder of the management team will remain with the business following the acquisition, reporting to Albert Erasmus, the Managing Director of G4S Cash Solutions (SA) (Pty) Limited.

Andy Baker, Regional President, G4S Africa, commented: “We are very pleased to welcome Wessel and his team to G4S and believe they will make a significant difference to our business. We believe their market leadership in cash device technology, extensive client base and unmatched track record of delivery in this highly specialist area will underpin our service offering here in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa.”

Albert Erasmus, Managing Director, G4S Cash Solutions South Africa, stated: “This will accelerate our growth via the addition of exciting new capability that will assist the development of the cash business via the provision of more complete end-to-end solutions for our customers”.