KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — CTOS Digital Bhd has proposed to acquire a 49 per cent stake in fintech specialist Juris Technologies Sdn Bhd (JurisTech) for RM205.8 million cash.

In a statement today, the credit reporting agency said it had entered into a conditional share sale and purchase agreement with Natsoft (M) Sdn Bhd, the holding company controlled by JurisTech’s founders, for the proposed acquisition, pending approval of CTOS Digital shareholders in the upcoming extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

It said the purchase consideration arrived at a willing-buyer willing-seller basis and the date of the EGM would be announced in due course.

"To fund the acquisition exercise, CTOS Digital plans to undertake the private placement of new shares, representing up to 10 per cent of the current 1.1 billion outstanding shares, pending shareholders’ approval in the same EGM.

"The company will also explore bank borrowing options if necessary,” it said.

It said barring any unforeseen circumstances, the acquisition is slated to be completed by the first quarter of 2022.

Deputy group chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Hamburger said the company aimed to leverage on JurisTech’s strong presence in Islamic banks and co-operatives.

He said JurisTech could also assist in further increasing CTOS Digital’s wallet share on other banks in Malaysia that used JurisTech’s products as a core solution.

Besides that, he said the proposed acquisition would allow both companies to complement each other’s strength to bring a stronger end-to-end digital lending solution proposition to the market by combining best in class credit data, software solutions and analytics services, subsequently establishing themselves as a one-stop-solution for financial institutions.

"The partnership will also well positioned to address the new emerging opportunities in the digital lending space as both companies seek to co-develop various new and unique propositions to cater to the needs of customers, including digital banks, peer-to-peer, buy-now-pay-later and micro/pay-day loans providers,” he said.

JurisTech CEO and co-founder See Wai Hun said the partnership would propel the company to fulfil its vision of delivering frictionless financial transactions and drive greater financial inclusion and technology innovation in credit decisions. — Bernama