The Central Bank of Kenya finally approved the merger of Nairobi-based Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and NIC Group. According to the deal, while Commercial Bank of Africa will own a 53 percent stake in the new entity, NIC Group will own the remaining 47 percent.
According to reports, the merger of CBA and NIC Group will take effect on September 30. The news of the merger first broke out in the month of January. While in March, Commercial Bank of Africa announced that its shareholders have accepted a share swapping deal with NIC Group.
The new entity will be known as NBCA Group and in Kenya, it will be known as NBCA Bank Kenya. The new entity will immediately become Kenya’s third-largest bank by asset value.
According to the Central Bank of Kenya, the merged entity will have a combined market share of 9.9 percent and its customer base will be over 40 million in East Africa. It will have around 100 branches in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ivory Coast.
With regard to the merger between CBA and NIC Group, Isaac Awuondo, CEO of Commercial Bank of Africa told the media that, “Soon we shall be announcing the brand which is a reflection of both banks’ values, borrowing from the best of both and building new strengths to deliver better banking experience for our customers and set new standards for the industry.”
As of December 2017, KCB had the highest market share in the Kenyan banking industry with 14.14 percent followed by Co-operative Bank of Kenya in second with 9.93 percent and Equity Bank in third with 9.85 percent of market share.
The new entity will have assets worth Sh444 billion which will overtake Co-operative Bank of Kenya which had Sh413 billion in assets as of December last year.