Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) has received the regulatory nod from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to acquire a 51% stake in Kenya’s Mayfair Bank.
Mayfair Bank, which commenced operations in 2017, operates five branches across Nairobi, Eldoret and Mombasa in Kenya.
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The bank targets high net worth individuals and the corporate market segment and categorised as a small bank with a 0.17% market share as of February 2020.
Under the deal terms, CIB will offer requisite skills, resources and infrastructure to help Mayfair Bank scale up its business.
According to Reuters, CIB has pumped an additional capital of $35m into Mayfair under the terms of the agreement.
The acquisition will be effective from 1 May 2020. The move is said to be part of CIB’s strategy to expand its footprint into the East African region.
CIB chairman Hisham Ezz Al-Arab said: “The bank is a small bank but this is our idea of growing in Kenya, a very well regulated market. The deal is part of our expansion in Africa.”
“CIB plans to expand the bank by focusing on the retail segment, corporate banking and trade finance.”
Licensed by the Central Bank of Egypt in 1975, CIB employs 6,900 people and has nearly KSH2.45trn ($24.18bn) in total assets.
It operates in more than 200 branches across Egypt and offers a suite of banking products and services to its customers.
The bank is listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (ESE), London Stock Exchange (LSE) and trades over-the-counter on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
