Equity Bank Gets CBK Nod To Partially Acquire Troubled Spire Bank

Equity Bank Kenya Limited has received a nod from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to acquire certain assets and liabilities of Spire Bank Limited (Spire) effective January 31, 2023.

Equity Bank was first registered as Equity Building Society in 1984 under the Building Societies Act. It converted to a commercial bank in December 2004, and was listed on the Nairobi  Securities Exchange (NSE) in August 2006. It was ranked second out of 39 banks in terms of market share as of December 31, 2022, with a market share of 12.5 percent with 191 branches across the country.  

Spire formerly known as Equatorial Commercial Bank Limited (ECB) started operations in 1984 as a non-bank financial institution and converted into a  commercial bank on December 13, 1995.

ECB and Southern Credit Banking  Corporation Limited merged their respective businesses with effect from June 1,  2010, and retained the name ECB. In December 2014, Mwalimu National  Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Limited acquired a  majority stake in ECB.

Effective May 20, 2016, the bank changed its name to Spire  Bank Limited. It was ranked 39 out of 39 banks in terms of market share as of December 31, 2022, with a market share of 0.01 percent with 12 branches across the country.