Access Bank Plc has officially finalized its acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank’s operations in Angola and Sierra Leone.
Gatekeepers News reports that in April 2022, Standard Chartered announced its decision to completely withdraw from operations in seven countries within Africa and the Middle East (AME) as part of a strategy to enhance its business focus.
Following this, on July 23, 2023, an agreement was reached for the sale of its subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa to Access Bank.
In a recent update to investors, Access Holdings confirmed the successful completion of the acquisition of both Standard Chartered Bank branches in sub-Saharan Africa, as reported in a corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Wednesday.
“Further to our July 14, 2023 announcement regarding the above subject, Access Holdings Plc (‘Access Holdings’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to announce that its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc (‘Access Bank’ or ‘the Bank’) has completed the acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank Angola S.A and Standard Chartered Bank (Sierra Leone] Limited (‘the Acquisitions’),” the company said.
Commenting on the milestone, Roosevelt Ogbonna, managing director and chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of Access Bank Plc and CEO of the Banking Group said the development will expand the company’s earnings.
“We are pleased to have successfully concluded 2 important acquisitions in Angola and Sierra Leone, affording us synergies to strengthen the quality of our earnings from both countries by significantly growing our share of the Corporate and SME banking in the two markets,” Ogbonna said.
“The combinations represent another significant step towards our broader vision of becoming the World’s Most Respected African Bank.”
The statement further said both parties “are working on the completion of transactions that would see Access Bank acquire Standard Chartered Bank’s subsidiaries in Cameroon, the Gambia and its Consumer, Private and Business Banking business in Tanzania”.
