By Kolawole Ojebisi
Access Bank Plc on Wednesday said it had spread its tentacles to other African shores as a means of expanding its operation coverage.
The bank hinged its claim on the just concluded acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank in Angola and Sierra Leone.
In April 2022, Standard Chartered said it would fully extend its operations to seven countries in Africa and the Middle East (AME) as part of plans to upscale its businesses.
Standard Chartered, on July 23, 2023, reached an agreement to sell its subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa to Access Bank.
Updating investors in a corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Wednesday, Access Holdings announced the completion of the acquisition of two Standard Chartered Banks in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Further to our July 14, 2023 announcement regarding the above subject, Access Holdings Plc (‘Access Holdings’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to announce that its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc (‘Access Bank’ or ‘the Bank’) has completed the acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank Angola S.A and Standard Chartered Bank (Sierra Leone] Limited (‘the Acquisitions’),” the company said.
Commenting on the milestone, Roosevelt Ogbonna, managing director and chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of Access Bank Plc and CEO of the Banking Group said the development will expand the company’s earnings.
“We are pleased to have successfully concluded 2 important acquisitions in Angola and Sierra Leone, affording us synergies to strengthen the quality of our earnings from both countries by significantly growing our share of the Corporate and SME banking in the two markets,” Ogbonna said.
“The combinations represent another significant step towards our broader vision of becoming the World’s Most Respected African Bank.”
The statement further said both parties “are working on the completion of transactions that would see Access Bank acquire Standard Chartered Bank’s subsidiaries in Cameroon, the Gambia and its Consumer, Private and Business Banking business in Tanzania”.
Two weeks ago, Access Holdings announced that Access Bank United Kingdom (UK) had signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Afrasia Bank Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Mauritius by assets.
