By July this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his family would have successfully completed acquisition of National Industrial Credit Bank, which is in the process of merging with Commercial Bank of Africa.
Currently, Uhuru and his immediate family controls shares in CBA through Enke Investiments Limited (25%) and Ropat Nominee Limited (23%) with other shares also held by individual family members.
Shareholders from the two banks have already consented to the merger, a move that would make the resulting bank the third largest in terms of assets across the country.
“The endorsement paves the way for completion of the merger that will deliver significant benefits to the group stakeholders,” NIC’s chairman James Ndegwa said.
The merger still needs approval from local and regional regulators including Bank of Tanzania, the Central Bank of Kenya, Capital Markets Authority and Competition Authority of Kenya.
The banks expect that all the requisite approvals will be obtained by June, allowing shares of the merged entity to commence trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on July 17.
“Whilst a new name is yet to be selected, both NIC and CBA are jointly working with external brand consultants to identify a name that will reflect the identity, values and aspirations of the new merged entity,” Mr Ndegwa said.
The NIC bank holds majority shares of her Tanzania subsidiary besides also controlling Bank of Tanzania. The merger would also see all branches to the two banks brought together before July.
At the moment, KCB has the most assets valued at Sh723 billion while Equity Bank comes second with around Sh550 billion assets. The move would see the new bank relegate Cooperative Bank to forth place in terms of assets owned.