Nairobi — KCB Group Plc has listed an additional 142,979,717 shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) following the successful acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK).
Effectively, NBK shareholders who swapped their shares for those of KCB will now be able to freely trade the new stocks at the bourse.
KCB got consent to acquire NBK from shareholders holding 297,130,033 issued ordinary shares out of 338,781,200 issued ordinary shares, representing 87.7 percent by the offer closure date on August 30, 2019.
This brings to the total 3,209,043,204 the number of shares the biggest bank by asset base in Eastern Africa has floated at the NSE.
"The listing will enhance the vibrancy of the capital market and will be instrumental in fueling continued business growth and the execution of the Bank’s expansion plans. It provides more shares and therefore liquidity on the counter, allowing more investors to be part of the Bank," said KCB Group Chairman Andrew Wambari Kairu.
The takeover is expected to give NBK a new lifeline as a business and fits well within KCB expansion strategy.
"We see this friendly takeover as an enrichment of the banking heritage that we have created in the country in our more than 120 years of existence. It is anticipated to deliver immense value to our shareholders, customers, staff and all other stakeholders through creation of meaningful synergies from the business lines and group operating structure," he said during the bell ringing ceremony to commence the listing of the new shares at the NSE trading floor on Friday.
In his remarks, NSE Chairman Mr. Samuel Kimani said: "We are delighted that the acquisition has been successfully concluded, creating additional value to the KCB shareholders and boosting overall market participation. We continue to encourage domestic led economic growth and applaud KCB on this historic transaction."
KCB has started the process of integrating NBK into KCB, an exercise that is expected to be completed within the next 24 months, focusing on systems, processes, people and institutional governance.
It is anticipated that as a combined institution, this gives KCB a stronger edge to play a bigger role in driving the financial inclusion and economic empowerment agenda in the East African region while simultaneously building a robust and financially sustainable organisation.
The conversion of the non-cumulative preference shares in the share capital of NBK is in progress and the swap of the said shares will occur.On completion of these processes, KCB will hold […]
