Access Bank Plc extends African reach: acquires three foreign African banks
May 22nd, 2008 Tunde Brown © www.StockMarketNigeria.com
By Tunde Brown
Access Bank Plc was incorporated in 1989 and is a full service commercial bank licensed in Nigeria, operating through a network of 118 branches located in the major commercial centres in Nigeria and two offshore subsidiaries in The Gambia and Sierra Leone. Access Bank Plc is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with a market capitalization of US$3 billion. Total Assets as at March 2008 was US$8.9 billion and total shareholders’ funds of US$1.6 billion.
In a recent release by the Board of Directors of Access Bank Plc, the bank disclosed that following all required approvals, it had completed the acquisition of three foreign African banks. The various banks involved are Omnifinance Bank, Bancor Bank SA, Banque Privée Du Congo. Details made available reveal that the bank acquired an 88% interest in Omnifinance Bank, Cote d’Ivoire through a combination of purchase of existing shares and injection of additional capital. Omnifinance Bank now has a capital base in excess of US$20million.
The report reveals that the bank further acquired 75% interest in Bancor Bank of Rwanda and a 90% interest in Banque Privée du Congo. These acquisitions are in line with Access Bank Plc’s African expansion strategy which commenced in March 2007. With Omnifinance bank of Cote d’Ivoire, Access bank has penetrated the UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union, CFA Zone). ‘This will assist the Bank to complete its coverage of West Africa’s two monetary zones’, the report said.
Furthermore, the report revealed that the bank ‘… intends to leverage on the acquisition of Bancor Bank S.A Rwanda, the fourth largest bank in Rwanda with strong shareholder and corporate customer base, to grow market share and build scale in East African countries such as Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya’. It is hoped that the addition of Banque Privée du Congo will facilitate the Bank’s entry into the Central African region and afford the chance to harness the attractive growth potentials of the region.
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