NIC Group PLC and Commercial Bank of Africa Limited (CBA)have confirmed their merger plan whose completion will see the unified banks listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
The merger will be completed upon fulfilment of a certain set of conditions precedent, customary to transactions of this nature. The parties obtaining applicable shareholder and regulatory approvals and the parties entering into and completing various transactional agreements to complete the merger.
The proposed merger will create a bank with the financial strength, expertise, and regional reach to support Kenya’s and the regions’ economic growth aspirations. In particular, the merged entity will be in a strong position to play a key role in supporting Kenya’s economic ambitions, specifically facilitating implementation of the Big Four Agenda which focuses on food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and universal healthcare.
The merged bank will have an asset base of 444 billion Kenyan shillings ($4.41 billion), making it the region’s third-largest after KCB and Equity and the second largest bank in Kenya by customer deposits and a
true market leader in Corporate Banking, Asset Finance and Digital Banking.
The bank will operate a network of more than 100 branches across five regional economic centers including ,Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Kigali and Abidjan.Serving over 40 million customers.
The transaction will take place though a share swap between the two banks, with current NIC group shareholders owning 47 pct of the merged entity and CBA shareholders owning 53 pct of the merged entity. NIC group will remain listed, Gachora said.
The merged entity will be a universal bank providing a full range of financial products and services to corporate, institutional, SME and consumer banking customers.
CBA Group Managing Director Isaac Awuondo said the bank would not fire employees but would retain them in alternate roles. “So we will retain the workforce, only the roles may change.”