LONDON (Alliance News) - Atlas Mara Ltd said Wednesday that its founder, Bob Diamond, will step down as chair of the African banking investor and return to a non-executive director role, as the firm looks undertake a strategic review to increase focus on core assets.
Atlas Mara explained it was undertaking a "review of strategic options" which will see it assess interest for some of its banking assets. The review will be led by Citigroup Global Markets Ltd.
In doing so, Atlas Mara said it plans to continue to focus on its investments in core markets "where a path to market leadership is clearly achievable". For non-core markets, it will seek to "partner, exit or reduce risk exposure".
In other strategic priorities, Atlas Mara will look to accelerate its agricultural finance platform given the importance of the sector to African economies.
As part of this, Atlas Mara has agreed to buy the 35% stake in agriculture-focused financial service platform GroCapital Holdings Ltd held by its largest shareholder Toronto-listed Fairfax Africa Holdings Corp.
Fairfax holds a 42% stake in Atlas Mara.
Terms of the GroCapital deal have yet to be agreed, but will be undertaken on a proposed share exchange transaction.
Atlas Mara also will support growth in its "flagship" Nigerian market through its Union Bank of Nigeria holding. UBN - in which it holds a 48% stake - is "central" to its overall strategy, and it will look to achieve consolidation of the bank and look to develop a "capital and liquidity plan oriented towards a sustainable dividend policy."
The firm will also continue to invest in its digital banking strategy in which it plans to estbalish a sub-Saharan pan-African digital bank. As part of this, it will seek to create "transactional platforms to drive substantially lower cost of funds, enhancing core banking systems, and developing technology-enabled products to retain and grow Atlas Mara's customer base."
Atlas Mara added that Chair Bob Diamond will be replaced by current Non-Executive Director Michael Wilkerson as executive chair. Wilkerson is chief executive officer of Fairfax Africa.
Wilkerson thanked Diamond for "his leadership as chairman through the challenging times of the past two years".
"I look forward to continuing to work together on the Board to build on our partnership to fulfil the vision of creating a leading, sub-Saharan African financial services platform to better serve our customers and communities," Wilkerson added.
Diamond - a former chief executive of UK bank Barclays PLC - assumed the chair on an interim basis two years ago. He is stepping back in order to "increase his focus on his other executive roles while continuing to contribute actively to Atlas Mara's growth and strategic direction."
In addition, Atlas Mara appointed former Commercial International Bank finance chief Muhammad Khan as its new permanent chief financial officer. Khan will replace acting CFO Kenroy Dowers from April.
Atlas Mara also hired former Citibank and ABN Amro Bank senior executive Jawaid Mirza as non-executive director at the firm. Meanwhile, non-executive directors Funke Opeke and Hisham Ezz Al-Arab have resigned in order to "focus on their leadership responsibilities with other companies".
Atlas Mara shares were trading up 3.0% at USD1.70 apiece in London early Wednesday.