DEAP Capital gets N2bn second tranche as it transitions to CMFC

DEAP Capital Management & Trust Plc said it received an additional N2 billion from Banklink Africa Private Equities Limited, marking the second tranche under a N6 billion capitalisation programme tied to its planned transition into a critical minerals financing vehicle.

The latest injection brings total capital received so far to N3 billion, the company said in a statement to the Nigerian Exchange dated March 30. The funding is being disbursed in three tranches under a takeover agreement, with the final N3 billion expected within 30 days.

The capital raise underpins DEAP Capital’s rebranding to Critical Minerals Financing Corp. Plc, a name approved by shareholders at its annual meeting earlier last month.

The company said it will reposition as a specialist institution focused on financing and structuring projects in Africa’s critical minerals sector, including lithium, copper, rare earths, tin and zinc — commodities central to the global energy transition.

Lamon Rutten, the company’s chair, said the commitment reflects investor confidence in the company’s new direction.

“We are excited at Banklink Africa’s total commitment to the company’s transition into CMFC,” Rutten said. “We believe there is a significant opportunity to build a specialist African platform focused on critical minerals at a time when global demand is accelerating.”

“With an investor group so committed, CMFC will be positioned to originate, finance and help develop projects across the African continent while connecting those opportunities with international capital, technology partners and long-term offtakers,” he added.

Rutten said the company will operate “at the convergence of mining project finance, structured credit, commodity trading, capital market issuance and ESG-aligned investment governance.”

Joshua Adesoji, chief financial officer of Banklink Africa, said the private equity firm intends to complete the capitalisation as scheduled.

“We are pleased to have fulfilled this second tranche under our funding commitment to DEAP CAP,” he said. “We remain committed to finalising the remainder capital injection within the next thirty (30) days as we evolve DeapCap into CMFC.”

Once fully capitalised, the company plans to deploy resources into financing and structuring mining and mineral processing projects across Nigeria and the wider African continent, seeking to capture more value from the region’s growing role in the global energy transition supply chain.

Wasiu Alli

Wasiu Alli is a business, economics cum data journalist with strong expertise covering macro trends, capital markets, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. He’s an alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School. He formerly heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.