Access Holdings To Acquire National Bank Of Kenya Limited

Access Holdings has announced plans to acquire the National Bank of Kenya in its first major deal since the death of Herbert Wigwe.

This is sequel to an earlier report from Nairametrics on the announced sale of National Bank of Kenya by KCB.

According to a corporate disclosure on the NGX website seen by Nairametrics, it was noted that Access Bank Plc, the leading subsidiary of Access Holdings would acquire the entire issued share capital of National Bank of Kenya Limited from KCB.

Access Bank stated that it entered into a binding agreement with Kenyan-based KCB Group Plc (“KCB”) for the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of National Bank of Kenya Limited (“NBK” or ‘the Target’’) from KCB. KCB is also the holding company of KCB Bank Ltd, Kenya’s largest commercial bank.

The bank said this is in line with Access Bank’s strategic expansion initiative and is poised to solidify its presence in the Kenyan market.

Speaking on the transaction, Bolaji Agbede, the Acting Group CEO of Access Holdings Plc noted,

- “This proposed acquisition marks a significant step in the execution of our five-year strategic plan aimed at positioning the Bank as Africa’s Gateway to the World. The deal with NBK, a historically strong and well-known bank in Kenya with a balance sheet in excess of US$1.1 billion, presents a compelling opportunity to scale up our growth in the East African market.

- We remain confident that our investments towards diversifying and strengthening the Bank’s long-term earnings profile will deliver significant value for our shareholders, customers, and wider stakeholder groups.”

This will be Access Corporation’s first acquisition since the demise of its former GMD/CEO Herbert Wigwe, suggesting the bank will continues with its inorganic aggressive growth model.

National Bank of Kenya Results

- Checks from Nairametrics reveal the bank reported a third quarter loss of about Ksh 3 billion ($22.5 million) in September 2023.

- The bank also has a net equity of Ksh 10.6 billion ($79.6 million) at the end of September 2023.

- A closer look at the results also shows the bank carries a retained loss of about Ksh 7.9 billion ($59.3 million)