Access bank to acquire Standard Chartered’s businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa

Access Holdings announced that its subsidiary, Access Bank and Standard Chartered have entered an agreement to acquire Standard Chartered’s majority shareholdings in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, the Gambia and Sierra Leone, and its Consumer, Private & Business Banking business in Tanzania.

It also announced that the bank has also entered into an agreement to acquire majority equity stake in African Banking Corporation (Tanzania) Limited (BankABC Tanzania)

These transactions are coming immediately after the completion of the bank’s acquisition of majority stake in Finibanco Angola.

Last year, Standard Chartered stated that it was seeking to exit seven countries in Africa and the Middle East (AME) in its bid to improve profits by focusing on faster-growing markets in the region.

Access bank said that these transactions presented an opportunity for the bank to deepen its operations in existing and new countries of presence across Africa.

“In anticipation of completion of the transactions, Access bank has made excellent progress in integration planning and will work in the coming months with standard Chartered and BancABC Tanzania to ensure a seamless integration. The transactions are expected to be completed over the next 12 months.”

“Tanzania’s banking regulator has granted its apporval in favour of the bancABC Tanzania acquisition and further regulatory approvals are anticipated in due course for the transactions, including from the Central bank of Nigeria.”

Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director of access Bank Plc, said:

“For Access Bank, these transactions represent a key step in our journey to build a strong global franchise focused in serving as a gateway for payments, investment, and trade within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world as we continue to deliver on our vision to be the World’s Most Respected African Bank.

Commenting on the transactions, Dr Herbert Wigwe, group Executive of Access Holdings said:

The transactions mark a significant leap forward for Access bank and reinforces our strategy of strengthening our footprint across Sub-saharan Africa to harness synergistic opportunities for sustainable income, diversification and profitability. We remain committed to our five-year strategy, which envisions our banking subsidiary emerging as a true leader in banking services across the African continent.”

“This strategic decision allows us to redirect resources within the AME region to other areas with significant growth potential,” Sunil Kaushal, Standard Chartered’s regional CEO for AME.

“Access Bank will provide a full range of banking services and continuity for key stakeholders, including employees and clients of Standard Chartered’s businesses across the five aforementioned countries,” according to Standard Chartered in a statement.