FOLLOWING its earlier announcement on September 29, 2020, Access Bank Plc has announced that it has received the approvals of the South African and Nigerian regulatory authorities to its proposed acquisition of the South African-based Grobank Limited.
These approvals constitute a significant milestone in the transaction which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021 subject to completion of other conditions precedent.
Speaking on the development, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, the GMD/CEO of Access Bank, said: ‘Today’s announcement represents significant progress in delivering on our strategic intent of becoming Africa’s Gateway to the World in pursuit of our vision to be the World’s Most Respected African Bank.
He said Access Bank’s presence in South Africa will no doubt accelerate the attainment of the lender’s goal of delivering more than Banking promise to 100 million unique customers across the continent.
“It will also build on our existing foundation and deliver enhanced value to our shareholders, employees and other stakeholders,” Wigwe stated.
Only last year, Access Bank Plc. completeed its acquisition of Transnational Bank Plc., The notice which was disclosed in a corporate disclosure on the Nigerian Stock Exchange read, “The Bank’s vision is to be the World’s Most Respected African Bank and our entry into the Kenyan market, a gateway in East Africa, not only brings us closer to that vision but enables our customers tap into our extensive global network that translates into immense business opportunities, robust and efficient digital solutions, competitive products and unrivalled customer experience.”
Only recently, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede details how he and his friend Herbert Wigwe walked the delicate path of buying Access Bank. Their manouvres, struggles, despair and determination were heighted in the second excerpts from his memoir, LEAVING THE TARMAC: Buying A Bank in Africa.
More excerpts from the memoir scheduled for presentation on 29th March 2021 read in part, “So, once the decision to buy a bank was made, the next question was which one should we buy? I sat down with Herbert in my rented house at 10A Festival Road, on Victoria Island, Lagos, and launched our venture by compiling a list of all the banks that were potentially available.
“Our bank acquisition venture was tagged ‘Project Festival,’ by our team of advisers, coordinated by Albert Okumagba of BGL Securities.
“We spoke to different people within the industry and then we began to interact with key stakeholders and shareholders of our target list of institutions; we put together a team of advisers consisting of lawyers and investment bankers who were to support us in the process.
“We were fortunate to have strong relationships with committed advisers who were prepared to take on our mandate on the basis of a success fee. As we engaged the key stakeholders of our target institutions, we quickly found out that our preferred candidates, which were banks that were doing fairly well by industry standards, were too expensive for us to be able to afford.”
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