It was announced in mid-September that Paladin Capital (PSG) has sold its 42.9% stake in IQuad Group to Sasfin Holdings Ltd, with an option to also purchase the Thembeka Capital stake of 8%.

This development sees the IQuad Group, with its solid track record of adding value to clients’ businesses and its proven systems and procedures, poised to take advantage of Sasfin’s networks to grow the existing businesses of both IQuad and Sasfin.

“The management of IQuad is excited about the growth prospects that our new shareholder a JSE-listed business focussed in the niche banking and financial services industry offers ourselves and our clients, and which will help in creating mutual value for all concerned,”  says IQuad CEO, David Edwards. “IQuad Group has always offered clients a range of value-enhancing business services,” says CEO David Edwards. “These include accessing lucrative government incentives claims on behalf of our clients, offering them global trade expertise, managing their foreign currency risk and administering, for instance, customs duty drawbacks on their behalf.”

The IQuad Group has in fact been trying to aggressively grow its treasury arm and recently acquired Kagiso Treasury Solutions making IQuad's treasury services division one of the largest independent treasury operations in terms of both clients and the numbers of transactions processed in South Africa. In addition to their expertise in the international trade arena, IQuad Group offers companies a broad range of business services which include BEE consulting and verification, as well as conducting VAT and customs audits. They also offer companies the business development tools and management systems to ensure their compliance with regulatory and quality assurance standards and certification requirements such as ISO 9001.

Sasfin represents a long term investor intent on retaining and growing IQuad as a listed entity. Their services are also very complementary to those of the Group’s, including trade and debtor finance services to SMME companies; freight logistics services and short term insurance.

David Edwards explains further, “Our Group has always had a dynamic entrepreneurial culture, a passion for innovation and a proven record of delivering value as we have always seen ourselves as working in partnership with our clients, and will continue to do so. We  anticipate that Sasfin's clients would appreciate IQuad's value-enhancing services, while IQuad's clients would appreciate further access to banks, funding and advice.”

Edwards concludes, “This change will also not affect our current client relationships. So from an operational perspective it will be business as usual but with the benefit of being able to offer more products and services. We believe that the resulting synergies of this merger will present us all with excellent opportunities to grow our respective businesses and add enormous value to those of our clients.”