The Central Bank of Kenya announces the acquisition of up to 100 percent of the shareholding of Transnational Bank Plc by Access Bank Plc. This follows a prior CBK’s approval notice which was issued on December 24, 2019
In a statement sent to Newsrooms this morning, CBK said, the acquisition come to effect from February 1, 2020.
Transnational Bank Plc commenced operations in December 1985. Currently, the bank has twenty-eight (28) branches (including the head office) across the country.
Access Bank Plc, the largest bank in Nigeria with a total asset base of approximately USD 16.10 billion (Ksh.1.61 trillion) has been on verge of expanding in Africa. This deal makes Access Bank the third Nigerian lender after Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and United Bank of Africa (UBA) to set up operations in the country.
The Bank has subsidiaries in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia and the United Kingdom. The bank also operates representative offices in China, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and India.
Access Bank Plc’s business model mainly focuses on corporate and retail banking and its strong group support is expected to drive Transnational Bank Plc’s business growth for the benefit of the Kenyan economy and the banking sector.
Central Bank expects the acquisition is expected to strengthen the resilience of Kenya’s banking sector.
In Nigeria, Access Bank had acquired two banks in 2019, Intercontinental Bank and Diamond Bank which have made it become the largest African bank by assets. Looking at the Bank’s strategy, it always wants to be a dominant player in any market where it finds itself, in view of this there is a huge possibility that it would acquire more stakes in the Kenyan banking sector.
