(Ecofin Agency) - The Central bank of Kenya has approved the acquisition of 100% of Kenyan bank Transnational Bank Plc by Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank in terms of assets. The operation will be effective as from 1 February 2020.

The main shareholders of Transnational Bank, Archers and Wilcock Limited (23.75% of shares), Sovereign Trust Limited (23.03%), Duggan Limited (15.53%), Pyramid Trustees Limited (15.12%) and others have all agreed to divest their interest in the Kenyan bank.

This marks Access Bank Group’s entry into the Kenyan banking market. The group, which has 7 subsidiaries in East and West Africa as well as representative offices abroad, had in early 2019 expressed its ambition to penetrate three new African markets as part of its 5-year expansion program (2018-2022). Last year, Access Bank merged with Diamond Bank, creating a bank with more than 27 million customers.

Let’s note that the reasons for this new acquisition in Kenya are not clearly explained but Transnational Bank's 2018 annual report shows that the bank's losses increased to KSh71.8 million as at 31 December 2018 compared to KSh36.4 million over the same period at the end of 2017.

Chamberline Moko