LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Atlas Mara, theAfrican bank co-founded by former Barclays boss BobDiamond, is in talks to invest $22.5 million in Banque Populairedu Rwanda (BPR) and merge it with its existing Rwandan bank.
Atlas Mara said on Monday if successfully concluded it willown 45 percent of BPR and plans to buy shares from other localshareholders to lift its stake to more than 70 percent. It plansto merge it with BRD Commercial Bank, which it bought last year.
The merger would create Rwanda's largest bank by branchlocations and second largest bank by assets with combined assetsof approximately $305 million, Atlas Mara said.
BPR's existing shareholders include Dutch lender Rabobank,which Atlas Mara said it intends to work with.
Atlas Mara, founded in 2013, said last month it wasconsidering more acquisitions as part of its plan to becomesub-Saharan Africa's leading bank. After a series of deals ithas operations or interests across seven countries, includingBotswana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. (Reporting by Steve Slater; editing by David Clarke)