Kenya’s bank completes acquisition of DRC-based lender

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | Kenya-based regional bank, KCB Group, said on Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)-based Trust Merchant Bank (TMB) after receiving all the regulatory approvals.

KCB Group CEO Paul Russo said in a statement issued in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that the group now obtained regulatory approvals from Kenya, the DRC, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission, setting the stage for the KCB Group to acquire 85 percent of the shares in the TMB.

Russo said the transaction will positively contribute toward KCB’s increased scale of operations by establishing its presence in new markets and providing income diversification from a geographical perspective.

He said the transaction will enable the KCB to accelerate its market presence in the DRC in the near term by leveraging the TMB’s 18-year operational history, vast branch network, valuable local customer relationships, and deep knowledge of local business dynamics.

According to Russo, the KCB Group will operate the TMB with its current brand and will enhance the current business operating model with the capabilities the KCB has built over time in systems and processes. The TMB is one of the DRC’s largest banks, with 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in total assets and a strong offering in Retail, SME, Corporate, and Digital banking channels.

The TMB’s 109 branches are supported by a substantial agency banking network, alongside a representative office in Belgium, Russo said. In the DRC, the bank commands an 11 percent market share as measured by total assets and is home to more than one in five bank accounts in the country.