Centum has entered into an agreement with other shareholders in Sidian Bank Limited for the sale of part of its shares in Sidian.
This is through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bakki Holdco Limited, a licensed bank non-operating holding company.
However, Bakki Holdco Limited, which held 83.43% of issued shares at Sidian Bank Limited will remain a holder of 44.52% of the issued shares at Sidan.
“Consequently, and in accordance with the Regulations, Centum hereby notifies the public that Sidian will cease to be a subsidiary of Centum,” the public notice reads in part.
The price for this transaction is in line with Centum’s latest carrying value of Sidian in its books as of 31 March 2023.
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“The carrying value was at an uplift based on the market value of Sidian’s shares. This transaction will therefore not have a material impact on the net asset value of Centum,” the public notice continued.
In a Gazette notice published on Friday, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Kamau Thugge said the acquisition shall take effect on the 20th of October, this year.
Moreover, on October 6th, 2023, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning, Njuguna Ndungu approved the acquisition of share capital of Sidian Bank Limited.
The acquisition approved was worth 38.91 per cent of the issued share capital, to be acquired by Pioneer General Insurance, Wizpro Enterprise and Afram Limited.
Further, the alliance with the new shareholders is expected to create a significant collaboration between the insurance sector and the banking sector in Kenya.
This deal is envisioned to bolster the bank’s ability to provide tailor-made financial solutions for SMEs and other clients.
Previous Acquisitions of Sidian Bank
In June 2022, Nigerian lender, Access Bank announced that its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Pic entered into a binding agreement with Centum Investment Pic for the acquisition of the entire 83.4% shareholding held by Centum in Sidian Bank Ltd.
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However, in January,2023, the acquisition of Sidian Bank was discontinued by Access Bank Plc.
The bank, through a public notice stated that certain conditions that were important before the completion of the transaction were not met.
Consequently, the parties involved were unable to reach an agreement on the variation of these conditions in a manner to deliver the desired outcome for the parties.
The acquisition by Access Bank was hoped to boost the growth of Sidian Bank by merging it with the Nigerian bank.
