MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Blue Mahoe Buying 40% Equity Stake in Microfinance Provider Sprint of Jamaica

Blue Mahoe Capital, an investment firm based in the US city of Miami, recently agreed to purchase a 40-percent equity stake in Sprint Financial Services Limited, a Jamaican microfinance company, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is scheduled to close in March. Sprint plans to use the cash influx to expand operations in hopes of becoming a publicly traded company. Founded in 2011, Sprint provides online loans for personal and business use as well as a factoring service. Through this service, Sprint customers receive payments upfront for invoices due to them, and Sprint collects the invoiced funds thereafter.

Blue Mahoe Chairman David Mullings stated, “We bring cheaper capital from our US relationships and intend to pass on those lower interest rates to borrowers, thus contributing positively to job creation and business expansion, [which is] especially important after the experience with the pandemic.” Customers pay approximately 8 percent interest per month and a taxable origination fee of 6 percent, with new customers also subject to a one-time charge for a site visit. While maximum is not published for business loans, personal loans are capped at JMD 300,000 (USD 2,100). Since its inception, the company has dispensed 1,700 loans worth JMD 140 million (USD 981,000).

Blue Mahoe Capital is an investment firm that targets corporations in emerging markets, generally with a time horizon of ten years. Most of its funds are deployed in approximately 30 holdings in Jamaica. Among the holdings of Blue Mahoe Capital is an impact investing fund active in housing, climate-related projects and access to financial services.

By Sai Bommineni, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with Blue Mahoe Capital

Jamaica Observer article
https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sunday-finance/blue-mahoe-capital-acquires-40-stake-in-sprint-financial_211233

Sprint homepage
https://sprintfinja.com/

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