- An unexpected piece of news today was the announcement that Diamond Trust intends to acquire Habib Bank. Diamond Trust is Kenya’s sixth-largest bank with assets of Kshs 230 billion (September 2016), while Habib is number 34 with assets of Kshs 11 billion. The banks have a common shareholding through the Aga Khan network. EDIT: the purchase will be done by the issuance of 13.28 million shares of Diamond Trust at Kshs 137.39, valuing the deal at Kshs 1.82 billion. Other shareholders of Diamond Trust will be diluted by 4.75%.
- A week earlier, the Central Bank of Kenya also announced that it was in the process of licensing two new banks – DIB and Mayfair. DIB Kenya is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank, a leading sharia-compliant bank from the United Arab Emirates. DIB is not associated, and won’t want to be linked to the Dubai Bank that’s currently in liquidation. Mayfair Bank is owned by a diverse group of Kenyan investors with interests in various sectors (including politics)
- Also, a decision on Chase Bank is expected in the next few weeks. A target had been set to restore the bank back to indecent owners by the first anniversary of it being put into receivership. A merger or buyout is likely.
- More mergers expected with the credit squeeze on small banks?
Edit
From a Diamond Trust newspaper release
- Habib is the largest private bank in Pakistan with 1,673 branches in 22 countries. The deal will enable DTB to establish relationships with frontier markets in Asia where Habib has operations and this is also in line with the CBK policy of consolidation in the Kenyan banking sector.
- The lead transaction advisor for the deal was Pacifis Advisory, assisted by PWC while Anjarwalla & Khanna was the lead legal advisor.