Centum Investments has sold off Sidian Bank to a Nigerian top bank. The sale is estimated to be worth Sh. 4.3 billion. Sidian Bank has been sold to Access Bank, which is the same lender that bought Transnational Bank two years ago.
The Nigerian Tier-1 lender acquired Transnational in 2019 after the Competition Authority of Kenya gave the lender the go-ahead to acquire 93.57 per cent of Transnational Bank Ltd.Â
Centum sells Sidian Bank to Nigerians
Centum, whose largest individual shareholder is the late billionaire businessman Chris Kirubi, sold an 83.4 per cent stake to Access Bank.
Over the past two years, Access Bank has joined other Nigerian lenders Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd. and United Bank of Africa Plc in operating in the Kenyan market.
Sidian Bank was formally known as K-Rep Bank. It rebranded in April 2016 in a restructuring process that cost Sh. 500 million.
The bank was acquired by Centum Investments in December 2014 after Centum bought a controlling stake.
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Centum Investment acquired an additional 66 percent shareholding in K-Rep Bank Limited from several existing shareholders to bring its total stake in K-Rep to 67.54 percent in 2014.
Centum injected Sh. 1.2 billion capital out of the required Sh. 1.6 billion to turn around the bank. At the time of acquisition, Sidian had a customer base of 300,000 people.
Performance
According to its latest financial report, the a mid-tier bank recorded an increase in its consolidated net profit to Sh. 486 million for the year to 31 December 2021 from Sh. 19 million in the prior year 2020.
The bank’s balance sheet grew by 24 percent to Sh. 41.4 billion as of 31 Dec 2021 compared to Sh. 33.5 billion as of 31 December 2020. Net loans and advances increased by 19 percent due to continued lending to SMEs. Customer deposits grew by 14 percent in the period.
The acquisition deals such the ones by Access appear to bode well with the Central Bank of Kenya’s push for consolidation in an industry of more than 40 lenders and a population of almost 50 million people. Currently, Kenya has more banks per person than South Africa and Nigeria, Africa’s two largest economies.
