JOHANNESBURG – Information services firm Experian on Monday announced its proposed acquisition of Compuscan and Scoresharp, the providers of credit information and analytics services to organisations across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Ethiopia and Uganda, as well as the Philippines and Australia.
Compuscan was South Africa's first credit bureau to pioneer both positive and negative data for the microfinance sector and has since grown into a company that operates across nine countries offering credit and information services, decision analytics services, marketing services, loyalty and rewards services, and training.
Charles Butterworth, managing director of Experian, said bringing the credit bureaus together would complement and extend the services already provided by both companies in the South African market, and would bring significant opportunities for further growth and innovation, while creating financial inclusion across the wider African region.
Butterworth said Compuscan and Scoresharp's strength in analytics, scores and data quality, would further the complementary capabilities of Experian's already core bureau data and decisioning software.
"The South African market is a vital hub for our wider African business strategy.
"Compuscan is a company known for its data quality and agility, bringing with it an entrepreneurial culture that makes it a powerful and complementary fit with our business and our ambitions for the region," Butterworth said.
"The acquisition, therefore, marks a significant milestone, opening up exciting opportunities as we expand across the region."
Compuscan chief executive Remo Lenisa said by combining Compuscan and Scoresharp with Experian, they would be able to enhance their products and services to their customers to better manage risk, help borrowers gain access to finance and help reduce over indebtedness.
"We now have more depth and breadth of products and services to build out well-functioning credit markets in all the geographies we work in and to pursue our expansion to additional countries on the African continent.
"The combined businesses will provide for the long-term development of our staff and create new employment opportunities," Lenisa said.
The acquisition is subject to review by the competition regulator in South Africa.