CIB Egypt Plans Kenyan Bank Acquisition as M&A Heats Up
CIB Egypt Plans Kenyan Bank Acquisition as M&A Heats Up
Commercial International Bank SAE, Egypt’s largest private lender, wants to buy one of Kenya’s lower-tier banks in the latest tie-up to be announced in the East African nation.
CIB has applied for a portion of Mayfair Bank Ltd., according to the Competition Authority of Kenya. It follows four other banking tie-ups in the nation this year.
“The Authority is currently analyzing the application,” the antitrust agency said in an emailed response to questions.
Mayfair is Kenya’s fourth-smallest lender with a market size index of 0.16%, according to central bank data. It was licensed in June 2017 and doubled its half-year loss in the six months to June 2019 to 161.4 million shillings ($1.57 million). If approved, CIB will become the first Egyptian bank to set up shop in Kenya.
This year, NIC Group Plc merged with Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd., while KCB Group Ltd.’s bought National Bank of Kenya Ltd. Equity Group Holdings Plc agreed to give Atlas Mara Ltd. some shareholding in exchange of four African operations, while Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender, also received the greenlight last month to acquire Transnational Bank Ltd.
Kenya’s central bank governor, Patrick Njoroge, has urged commercial lenders to merge operations to create bigger and more resilient institutions in the nation with about 40 banks catering for 47 million people.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Herbling in Nairobi at dherbling@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura
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