Business

Charles Savage, Purple Capital

When EasyEquities owner Purple Capital announced in July that it would acquire Australian outfit Telescope AI for about R177mn, a common response was: “Huh?” After all, the disclosed net asset value of Telescope AI was only around R5.7mn (A$500 000). With a market value of just under R3bn, why would a South African fintech spend 6% of that in both cash and new shares on an Ozzie software startup?

Charles Savage, CEO of Purple Capital, argues that “the balance sheet was never the asset”.