Standard Chartered Sells Subsidiaries In Four African Countries To Access Bank

After the acquisition of a majority stake in Finibaco Angola, Access Holding Plc has said that its subsidiary, Access Bank Plc has entered an agreement with Standard Chartered Bank across four African countries.

The bank said the countries are Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia and Sierra Leone.

It said in a regulatory filing on Friday that it has also reached a deal for the acquisition of African Banking Corporation Ltd, Tanzania.

Access Holdco said its, “flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc (“Access Bank”) and Standard Chartered Bank (“Standard Chartered”), have entered into agreements relating to the acquisition of Standard Chartered’s majority shareholdings in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone, and its Consumer, Private & Business Banking (“CPBB”) business in Tanzania.

“Access Bank has also entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of majority equity stake in African Banking Corporation (Tanzania) Limited (“BancABC Tanzania”) (“the Transactions”). BancABC Tanzania a full-service commercial bank with over two decades of operations in Tanzania is expected to consolidate the CPBB business onto its platform.”

The lender believes that the acquisitions present an opportunity for it to deepen its operations in existing and new countries of presence across Africa.

The bank said it has made excellent progress in integration planning and will work in the coming months with Standard Chartered and BancABC Tanzania to ensure seamless integration.

“The Transactions are expected to be completed over the next 12 months.

“Tanzania’s banking regulator has granted its approval 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,” it added.

Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Roosevelt Ogbonna, said for Access Bank, the “transactions represent a key step in its journey to build a strong global franchise focused on 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.”