Zedcrest Acquires Leatherback to Scale Global Payments

In Short

Zedcrest Group has acquired Leatherback, a UK-founded fintech focused on international payments. The companies did not disclose the purchase price.

What Happened

Zedcrest Group has completed the acquisition of Leatherback, taking full ownership after first investing in the company in 2021.

Leatherback runs a single digital platform that lets individuals and businesses send, receive, exchange and hold money in multiple currencies. Multi-currency means you can manage balances in different currencies, similar to having separate wallets for dollars, pounds, and naira in one app.

Zedcrest said the deal supports its plan to build a wider, connected financial services platform across investment banking, asset management, securities, financing, and financial technology. For Leatherback, the acquisition adds institutional backing, capital and governance support, while keeping its existing services.

The companies said Leatherback will continue operating under its current leadership team. The business will also keep building its international network from its London headquarters.

Leatherback has recently set up a West African hub in Nigeria and has announced plans to expand operations into Canada and Kenya. Zedcrest said it expects to combine Leatherback’s payments technology with the group’s financial expertise and resources to improve product development and platform reliability.

Why It Matters

Cross-border payments are still hard for many African businesses, especially those paying overseas suppliers or collecting revenue from international customers. Delays, foreign exchange complexity, and multiple intermediaries can raise costs and increase failure rates.

By owning Leatherback outright, Zedcrest gets a bigger footprint in digital payments and a platform built for international money movement. If the integration goes well, the group could offer a broader set of services to businesses that need both financing and faster global settlement, which is the final step of completing a payment across borders.

The deal also signals that more African financial groups may prefer acquiring regulated, internationally based fintech platforms rather than building from scratch, especially when expansion involves multiple regions and compliance requirements.