Barclays Bank Kenya has notified the NSE of a planned merger of Barclays Plc’s entire African operation with South Africa’s Asba Group, news reports say.
“Shareholders are advised that, in line with their strategy to operate as One Bank in Africa, Barclays Bank PLC and subsidiary Absa Group Limited are engaged in discussions about combining the majority of Barclays operations with Absa”, Barclays Bank of Kenya Managing Director Adan Mohamed has said in a statement read in The East African.
The merger will affect Barclays Bank assets in Kenya, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and Ghana according to a Bloomberg news report. London-based Barclays Bank Plc will remain the majority shareholder of the combined Africa operation, the East African says. However Absa CEO Maria Ramos has told Bloomberg that it’s not yet clear how the ownership structure will look.
Absa Group is one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups involved in banking, insurance and wealth management. Its operations extend to Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria and Botswana. Barclays Plc bought 54 percent of Absa for $4.5 billion (KES 378 billion) in 2005 as part of an expansion strategy into emerging markets.
“The listing of BBK (Barclays Kenya) on the NSE would be maintained. Only Barclays’ (London) Holdings in BBK would be included in the proposed combination.” Mr. Mohamed has said.
Barclays Bank in Kenya is the largest Barclays subsidiary in Africa. Its pre-tax profit grew 18 percent to 6.3 billion shillings in the first six months of this year compared the last year. Read more here. The bank’s shares have climbed to trade between KES 13 and KES 14 per share from July compared to a range below KES 13 in the first quarter of the year.
Barclays Plc is embroiled in an interest rate fixing scandal that has seen the resignation of its chief executive and other officials. Read more on this here.