Access Bank Plc has reached an agreement with ABC Holdings Limited to acquire African Banking Corporation of Mozambique.
ABC Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Mara Limited
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The lender disclosed this on Wednesday in a statement.
This follows regulatory approvals to commence operations in Mozambique under the name Access Bank Mozambique and bolster its entry into South Africa.
It said the transaction would be funded from the capital invested in Access Bank Mozambique and will result in Access Bank Mozambique becoming the 7th largest bank in the country, from the 20th spot.
The bank in August this year acquired Cavmont Bank in Zambia.
The lender also received the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Approval-in-Principle to restructure to a holding company on Wednesday.
The tier- two bank’s proposed structure would enable the Bank to further accelerate its objectives around business diversification.
The new holding structure will also boost Access Bank’s operational efficiencies, talent retention as well as healthy governance.
The bank had announced it’s target to have larger presence in the South African Development Community region which Is among Africa’s most important trading blocs.
Consequently, Access Bank said it has entered a definitive agreement with South African Holding company, GroCapital Holdings to invest into Grobank Limited over two tranches.
Access Bank noted that the first tranch is an initial cash consideration for a 49 per cent shareholding and will be increased to a majority stake in the second tranche, which are still subject to regulatory approvals.
Access Bank’s Group Managing Director Herbert Wigwe, said that the management is consistently focused on building the scale needed to become a leading African bank.
This, he said, would be based on a principle that leverages its experienced and growing talent base and key stakeholder partnerships towards driving sustainable impact and profitability.
He said, “Today’s announcement demonstrates further commitment to delivering our strategic aspirations of becoming Africa’s Gateway to the World in line with our vision to be the World’s Most Respected African Bank.
“These transactions will significantly strengthen our presence in Southern Africa and further our footprint for growth in the South African Development Community region.
“With a broader presence across the continent, Access Bank will be better placed to support our customers who are increasingly looking towards intra Africa growth.
“The proposed transactions will accelerate the Bank’s momentum towards delivering world class banking services to an expanded customer base across Africa.”
He added that goal of the bank remains to reach and impact 100 million unique customers across the continent.