Tribunal approves African Bank acquisition of Grindrod Bank

African Bank says it welcomes all approvals it has received to date for its acquisition of 100% of Grindrod Bank. All the conditions precedent to the Grindrod Bank transaction have been met, and all the necessary regulatory approvals were obtained on 6th October 2022.

This follows the Competition Tribunal’s approval of its acquisition of Grindrod Bank with no conditions and the subsequent issuing of a merger clearance certificate. The Tribunal’s certificate stated that after reviewing all relevant information and the recommendation of the Competition Commission, the acquisition has been approved in terms of Section 16(2) of the Act.

African Bank CEO Kennedy Bungane said: “This is an important step in the process of final incorporation and we commend the Commission and the Tribunal for their hard work and swift decisions.”

Bungane said this marks the beginning of African Bank welcoming Grindrod Bank into its fold and the positive contribution the institution will make in reinforcing and building its business banking capacity.

In May this year African Bank announced its intention to acquire Grindrod Bank, previously owned by Grindrod Limited, in a deal was worth R1.5 billion, saying it would allow it to accelerate its entry into the South African business-banking sector.

At the time, Bungane said the acquisition is part of African Bank’s Excelerate25 strategy to diversify and develop a fully-fledged middle-of-the-pyramid business banking offering and the acquisition allows the organisation to do that efficiently and rapidly.

He said excellent progress has been made on the planning front, across all facets of both businesses to ensure seamless integration.

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