via ‘Getting approval to sell controlling stake to Atlas Mara ongoing’ July 14, 2014
ABC Holdings, the parent company of pan African banking group BancABC, says the process of obtaining regulatory approval to sell a controlling shareholding to Atlas Mara was ongoing.
In April, Atlas Mara—founded by ex-Barclays Plc chief executive Bob Diamond and billionaire Ashish J Thakkar—said it would buy 50,1% in pan African banking group, BancABC as part of plans to establish a premier financial services group in sub Saharan Africa.
Atlas Mara also made a voluntary offer to acquire a majority stake in African Development Corporation (ADC) bringing total ownership in BancABC up to 88% and a subsequent mandatory offer for the remaining 12% stake in BancABC.
In a notice on Friday, ABC Holdings said: “Further to the renewal of the cautionary announcement on June 19 2014 in relation to the Atlas Mara transaction first published on April 1 2014, the company would like to advise shareholders that the process of obtaining regulatory and other approvals is still ongoing.”
It urged shareholders to “continue exercising caution when dealing in the company’s securities until a further announcement is made”.
BancABC has banking operations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania.
According to an Atlas Mara timeline of events, the acquisition of BancABC’s stake was expected to be concluded by the end of the month.
The acquisition of BancABC was seen as an entry into the resource-rich Sadc bloc with rising trade flows, strong gross domestic product and a growing population of 286 million.
BancABC, Atlas Mara said, was capable of offering a range of banking products including corporate banking, treasury services, retail and SME banking, asset management and stock-broking. Atlas Mara said the expansion to date of BancABC was strong, but hamstrung by capital constraints.
Atlas Mara sees the region as highly-sought-after market for banks looking to develop into pan African players.
It said BancABC was a fast growing banking group focused on Southern Africa recording an average of 42% in annual growth in loans since 2009.
COMMENTS