KCB Group has reversed its earlier plan to acquire 100% stake in DRC Congo’s Trust Merchant Bank (TMB), citing the need to ride on the expertise of founding shareholders.
Currently, KCB owns 85 per cent stake in TMB and had planned to let the existing shareholders continue holding the balance for at least two years and then move to buy them out fully.
KCB Group chief executive Paul Russo said the lender will instead leave the founding shareholders —Robert Levy (13 per cent), Oliver Meisenberg (1 per cent) and the estate of Augustin Kabila Kisole (1 per cent)— to remain in the subsidiary’s ownership list.
Mr Russo further explained that DRC is a totally new market for KCB, and retaining investors who have been there for long will help build a partnership to grow the subsidiary’s value much faster.
“We want partners who understand that market to stay on with us. That is deliberate. It is not that the 15 percent is not available. We have partners who have been in this bank for a long time and they were running it very well. And we want to continue to work with them to build value. We believe they also see the value of working with us.” said Mr Russo, as quoted by Business Daily.
TMB is one of DRC’s largest banks, with over $1.7 billion (Sh214.4 billion) in total assets and rides on 109 branches to command about 11 per cent market share.
KCB has not yet disclosed the actual value of the deal but previously said the purchase will be priced at 1.49 times the book value or net assets of the DRC lender, working out to nearly KES 20 billion.
Read also; KCB Completes Acquisition of DRC Lender Trust Merchant Bank.
