Access Bank Restates Expansion Drive After Cancelling Deal With Kenyan Bank

The Herbert Wigwe led Access Holdings, has terminated a deal to acquire a Kenyan based Sidian Bank.

The acquisition agreement was proposed in June last year by the two parties, but the Nigerian Conglomerate said it will no longer proceed with the deal, citing failure on the part of Sidan Bank to satisfy some requirements.

Access Holdings and Sidian Bank had agreed that the Nigerian based financial institution will acquire the 83.4 percent equity stake owned by Centre Investment Plc for the sum of $37 million.

But in a corporate filing to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, Sunday Ekwochi, Access Corp Company Secretary, the financial giant said it terminated the deal over failure by the Kenyan bank to meet some conditions required to seal the transaction.

The bank, however, stated that the termination will not affect its quest to acquire more banks in the continent as Africa’s leading financial service provider.

Access said, “The completion of the proposed transaction was subject to fulfilment or waiver of certain conditions before the long stop date as defined in the transaction agreement.

“Although regulators have all been supportive in engagements around the transaction, certain conditions precedent needed to prudently complete the transaction have not been met and the parties were unable to reach agreement on the variation of these conditions in a manner to deliver the desired outcome for the parties.

“Consequently, we hereby notify the Nigerian Exchange Ltd and the investing public that Sidian acquisition will no longer be completed by the bank.

“The bank however remains committed to growing its franchise in a safe and sound manner in Kenya and the broader East African community and will continue to explore a variety of organic and inorganic opportunities to grow its market share therein.”

As part of its expansion quest, Access Corp recently secured the French government’s approval to operate Hydrogen, a financial payment service firm which Wigwe said will function as a settlement platform for over 30 percent of intra-African trade.

” The idea is that wherever you are in the world, if you’re making a transfer to anybody across the continent, one out of every three transactions that come into the continent will be settled on Access Bank’s platform,” the Access GMD said.