Equity Bank to pay $105 million (Sh10.7 billion) in cash for the 625,354 shares in BCDC
Kenya’s Equity Group Holdings, (EGH) on Tuesday entered into a share purchase agreement with George Arthur Forrest, to purchase 66.53% of the shares in Banque Commercial du Congo (BCDC).
BCDC is a public limited company (société anonyme – S.A.) licensed by the Banque Central du Congo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In the agreement, Equity will pay Ksh 10.7 billion to Forrest in cash for the 625,354 shares in BDC inclusive of dividends that will be declared after January 1 in respect of the financial year ending on 31 December 2019 -a cum-dividend price per share of USD 167.9 per share.
EGH also proposes to increase its shareholding in EBC. In this regard, EGH shareholders approved the purchase by EGH of the shares held by KfW comprising 7.6% of the issued share capital of EBC following the exercise of a put option granted to KfW under a Shareholders Agreement relating to EBC, entered into between among others EGH and KfW. The proposed acquisition of the shares held by KfW is also subject to the approval of Banque Centrale du Congo.
Following the completion of the transaction, the BCDC business will eventually be amalgamated with that of EGH’s existing banking subsidiary in DRC, Equity Bank Congo S.A. (EBC).
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The Agreement is subject to regulatory approvals from, the Central Bank of Kenya, Banque Centrale du Congo, the COMESA Competition Commission and the board approvals of BCDC and EGH.
Equity Group Holdings Plc CEO and Managing Director, Dr. James Mwangi said this is an opportunity for the Group to take further steps towards the delivery of its vision of building sub-Saharan Africa’s premier financial institution through delivering innovative products and services to customers, including, in particular, the effective use of technology.
By acquiring BCDC and the KfW stake in EBC, EGH will expand its footprint in DRC. The Group aims to provide access to competitive, tailored financial services to transform people’s lives and livelihoods, expand opportunities for wealth creation whilst also delivering significant value to its stakeholders.
