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Dr. Mahmoud Momtaz, the Chairperson of The Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa (COMESA) Competition has cleared the merger and acquisition of Uganda’s Finance Trust Bank with Nigeria’s Access Bank, a decision that is slated to impact market dynamics in East Africa’s banking industry.
Access Bank will acquire up to 80.89% of the issued shares, which is a subscription of 35 million ordinary shares pursuant to the proposed capital investment into Finance Trust Bank from the initial proposed acquisition of 69.7 percent.
Upon completion of the proposed transaction, Finance Trust Bank institutional shareholders including, Oiko Credit Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A, Progression Eastern African Microfinance Equity Fund, I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs, and RIF North, will cease to be shareholders.
The structure of ownership of the merged financial entity after the proposed transaction will include Finance Trusk holding minority shareholding of 12.89 percent by Uganda Women’s Trust, and 6.22 percent by other minority shareholders.
The COMESA Competition Commission arrived at the decision after a consideration of third-party views and submissions from the National Competition Agencies of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya which confirmed the absence of competition and public interest concerns.
A COMESA Committee Responsible for Initial Determinations, referred to as the [CID], determined that the merger is not likely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in the Common Market or a substantial part of it, nor will it be contrary to public interest.
The CID further determined that the transaction is unlikely to negatively affect trade between Member States.
This decision was also adopted in accordance with Article 26 of the Regulations.
Pursuant to Article 26 of the Regulations, the Commission is required to assess whether the transaction between the parties would or is likely to have the effect of substantially preventing or lessening competition or would be contrary to public interest in the Common Market.
Access Bank is a private limited liability company incorporated in Nigeria in 1989 and operates through a network of more than 700 branches and service outlets spanning 3 continents, 20 countries and over 60 million customers.
The Bank employs over 28,000 people in its operations in Africa and Europe, with representative offices in China, Lebanon, India, and the UAE and has operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Zambia and Rwanda.
Meanwhile Finance Trust Bank is a Tier 1 financial institution, licensed and regulated by Bank of Uganda under license number A1.028.
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The Bank has a network of thirty-five (35) branches serving over 500,000 savers and 42,000 borrowers with over 40% of these being women. The bank offers a comprehensive range of financial solutions, including loans, deposit accounts, money transfer services, utility bill collection, insurance services, trade and finance, and treasury services.
The transaction will involve capital injection by the Access Bank to enhance Finance Trust Bank’s capital base in compliance with the regulatory minimum capital requirements for a Tier 1 commercial bank in Uganda.
Bank of Uganda raised a minimum paid-up share capital requirement for Tier 1 commercial banks to UGX 150 billion (approx. USD 40.32 million) by 30th June 2024.
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The two entities will have a combined asset value in excess of the threshold of USD 50 million in the Common Market. However, COMESA requires the parties should not hold assets of more than two-thirds of their respective aggregate COMESA-wide assets within one and the same member state.
Access Bank is also expected to leverage its strong experience in the gender empowerment market by supporting Finance Trust Bank’s mission to deliver innovative financial solutions to women who currently comprises about 40% of its customers.
Finance Trust is therefore expected to become part of a multinational franchise that will leverage Access Group’s expertise to build deep sector knowledge in priority industries by capturing revenue opportunities in new sectors.
This will also include both banks merging their technological resources, providing Finance Trust Bank customers with access to secure and diversified digital platforms for seamless transactions and banking services provided by Access Bank.
Furthermore, Finance is expected to leverage Access Bank’s expertise in building deep sector relevance across several industries and tap into revenue opportunities across new customer segments which cut across business and retail banking.
Access Bank is expected to scale up its operations within the East African market and to promote regional trade finance and other cross-border banking services, by leveraging its presence in key global trade corridors in the broader East African and COMESA regions.