Access Bank announced that it is no longer going ahead with its plan to acquire Centum Investment’s 83.4% stake in Kenya’s Sidian Bank.
Last year, the Nigerian announced its plan to buy the majority stake in Kenya’s Sidian Bank for $37 million. The completion of the proposed transaction was subject to fulfilment or waiver of certain conditions before the Long Stop date as defined in the transaction agreement.
According to a statement made available to Innovation Village, “although regulators have all been supportive in engagements around the transaction, certain conditions precedent needed to prudently complete the transaction have not been met and the parties were unable to reach agreement on the variation of these conditions in a manner to deliver the desired outcome for the parties.”
The deal was supposed to have be concluded in December 2022.
Sidian Bank was founded in 1984 as K-Rep Bank. In 2015, Centum Investment Company completed its acquisition of a majority stake in the bank and changed its name to Sidian bank in 2016 to reflect its majority shareholding.
Had the deal gone through, the plan was to merge the acquired entity with Access Bank’s subsidiary in Kenya, Access Bank Kenya to create a stronger banking institution.
Access Bank completed the acquisition of Transnational Bank Plc, of Kenya, TNB in 2020.
