MNT-Halan raises $400M in equity and debt, achieving unicorn status with Chimera Abu Dhabi leading equity portion

On 1 February 2023, MNT-Halan announced it had attracted $400 million in a mixed equity and debt financing round, the largest such investment in Egypt and the Middle East in the prior 12 months. Chimera Abu Dhabi invested more than $200 million in equity for over 20% of the company. The round also included $140 million raised through two securitised bond issuances backed by loan books from subsidiaries Tasaheel Microfinance and Halan Consumer Finance, involving CIB and other regional banks. An additional ~$60 million in primary equity from international investors was in advanced stages.

This followed a $120 million equity round in Q3 2021 from DPI, Apis Partners and Lorax Capital Partners. Proceeds were allocated to expand the loan book amid rising demand, support profitability improvements, and fund international growth plans following a prior share-swap integration with MNT Investments. The transaction established MNT-Halan as Egypt's first fintech unicorn with a post-money valuation exceeding $1 billion.

MNT-Halan operates a digital financial ecosystem, primarily through the Halan super app, offering business and consumer loans (including microfinance, SME, nano, BNPL and vehicle finance), payments, e-wallets, prepaid cards, savings/investments and e-commerce for home appliances and FMCG. It serves unbanked and underbanked individuals and micro-enterprises, backed by its proprietary Neuron core banking technology. The company holds multiple licenses from Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority and Central Bank of Egypt.

It primarily operates in Egypt, where it claims to be the largest non-bank lender to the unbanked, with additional operations and expansions into Turkey (via acquisition of Tam Finans), Pakistan (specialised microfinance bank) and the UAE. As of recent reports, it has disbursed over $11-15 billion in loans cumulatively, maintains a gross loan book exceeding $1 billion, and serves millions of customers with over 2 million active users.