MARKET NEWS
Access Bank completes acquisition of Standard Chartered subsidiaries - PUNCH
Access Bank Plc has announced the completion of the acquisition of Standard Chartered subsidiaries in Angola and Sierra Leone.
This was revealed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the financial institution signed by the Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi.
In July 2023, Access Bank Plc and Standard Chartered Bank entered into agreements for the acquisition of Standard Chartered’s shareholding in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone, and its consumer, private and business banking business in Tanzania.
Each transaction remained subject to the approval of the respective local regulators and the banking regulator in Nigeria.
On Wednesday, the Access Bank said it had completed two out of the transactions.
Commenting on the completion milestone, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc and CEO of the Banking Group, Roosevelt Ogbonna, said, “We are pleased to have successfully concluded two important acquisitions in Angola and Sierra Leone, affording us synergies to strengthen the quality of our earnings from both countries by significantly growing our share of the Corporate and SME banking in the two markets.
“The combinations represent another significant step towards our broader vision of becoming the world’s most respected African bank.”
The parties are working on the completion of transactions that would see Access Bank acquire Standard Chartered Bank’s subsidiaries in Cameroon, the Gambia, and its Consumer, Private and Business Banking business in Tanzania.
Access Bank has been acquiring banks on the African continent in recent times as it seeks to expand its operational spread on the continent and beyond.
Meanwhile, Access Bank UK has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Afrasia Bank Limited, which is the fourth largest bank by total assets in the Republic of Mauritius which stood at $5.7bn as of half-year 2024.
Access Bank UK, a subsidiary of Nigeria’s Access Holdings, said it plans to leverage Mauritius “as a strategic hub for trade finance, wealth management, and corporate banking services.”
