LONDON (Alliance News) - Atlas Mara Ltd on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of Finance Bank Zambia Ltd and its subsidiaries for USD61 million in cash and 3.3 million Atlas Mara shares, plus a deferred contingent consideration of up to 1.3 million shares.
The sub-Sahara African financial services group had announced the acquisition back in November. At the time, it said it would pay USD60 million in cash and up to 2.6 million in shares.
Finance Bank Zambia will be combined with Atlas Mara's Zambian subsidiary African Banking Corp Zambia Ltd, with proforma combined assets of around USD567 million as at December 31, 2015.
Atlas Mara said the merged bank will be one of the largest banks in terms of branch footprint in Zambia, with the number of branches increasing to 65 branches from 23 branches, a total of 176 ATMs and 23 agencies.
"The acquisition of FBZ is another important step in the execution of Atlas Mara's strategy to build sub-Saharan Africa's premier financial institution, in part, by becoming a scale participant in our countries of operation, which this transaction will achieve for us in Zambia," Chief Executive John Vitalo said in a statement.
"We are enthusiastic about Zambia's long-term prospects and our ability to play a leading role in the development of financial services in the country. While there is much to be done to fully implement our operational integration plans, we are excited about the opportunity afforded by a larger footprint in this important market for us," he added.
Shares in Atlas Mara were untraded on Friday morning, last quoted at USD3.90.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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