Regulator approves plan by Nigerian bank to buy 70pc Fina stake

Guaranty Trust, a Nigerian bank can now go ahead with the acquisition of Fina Bank.

In a Gazette notice on Friday, the Competition Authority of Kenya approved plans by Guaranty Trust to buy a 70 per cent stake in Fina Bank, a local mid-tier commercial bank, which has operations in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

“The Competition Authority authorises the proposed acquisition of 70 per cent issued shares capital in Fina Bank (Kenya) by Guaranty Trust Bank,” said Wang’ombe Kariuki, Competition Authority’s director general, in a Kenya Gazette notice.

The acquisition will now see the local bank, which has Sh28.7 billion in assets, rebrand to Guaranty Trust Bank Kenya Limited.

Kenya’s Central Bank already approved the buyout, which took effect from November 8.

REACHED AGREEMENT

In July, the Nigerian bank reached an agreement with Fina Bank to buy the stake at Sh8.6 billion.

Fina, which began operations more than two decades ago, has 38 branches spread across East Africa.

“GT Bank will enter East Africa through a multi-country and scalable platform, thus expanding its international presence in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said the Nigerian bank earlier before the acquisition process was finalised.

Its chief executive, Segun Agbaje, had in July noted that Guaranty Trust Bank was eyeing growth opportunities in East Africa following successful operation in West Africa.

The bank’s growth has come on the backdrop of Nigeria’s and the region’s oil and gas industry.

The bank hopes to replicate its strategy in the East African region by tapping in the nascent oil and gas sectors. Exploration of oil is going on in the region.