A bid by the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to acquire African Banking Corporation Tanzania Limited (ABC Tanzania) has flopped, following lack of regulatory approvals.
In a notice on Thursday, KCB said that the agreement with ABC Tanzania’s parent company, ABC Holdings Limited, has been terminated.
“As announced, completion of the Transaction was subject to certain conditions that are customary for transactions of this nature including receipt of all regulatory approvals,” read the notice.
“As of the date hereof, certain regulatory approvals have not been received within the prescribed timeframe specified in the Agreement. As a result, without further agreement by the parties to extend the long-stop date, the Agreement has been terminated and, accordingly, the parties will not proceed to complete the Transaction as previously envisaged.”
On November 25, 2020, KCB entered into a share purchase agreement with, ABC Holdings Limited and ATMA for the purchase of 96.6 percent of the issued share capital of ABC Tanzania. KCB also separately intended to make an offer to Tanzania Development Finance Company Limited for the purchase of the other 3.4 percent of the issued share capital of ABC Tanzania
“Despite the above, KCB will continue exploring and pursuing attractive regional expansion opportunities in order to enhance our regional participation, accelerate our growth and maintain sustainable long-term African success in line with our expansion and growth strategy,” added the lender.
This comes months after KCB completed the acquisition of Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) from Atlas Mara Mauritius Limited and Arise B.V.
