Nigerian giant buying one of South Africa’s biggest banks
Bidvest Bank is being sold to Nigerian-based Access Bank, which is set to expand the latter’s operations in South Africa substantially.
In December 2024, JSE-listed Bidvest announced that it would dispose of 100% of Bidvest Bank Holdings Limited to Access Bank plc.
Bidvest is expected to raise R2.8 billion from the sale, which will then be used to settle its existing debt.
Access Bank plans to implement Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) ownership, including an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals in South Africa and Nigeria.
The Bidvest Bank book, which mainly consists of leased assets, loans and advances, totalled R6 billion in December, and was funded by deposits of R8 billion.
In its most recent financial year, Bidvest Bank generated a trading profit of R371 million and an operating income of R377 million.
“Bidvest will continue to support Bidvest Bank to ensure that it remains financially sound and operationally stable throughout the disposal process,” it said.
Access Bank is the largest lender in Nigeria by assets and is a full-service bank with over 60 million customers globally across three continents.
The group has four business segments: retail, business, commercial and corporate.
“Through its strong presence in Nigeria, 16 subsidiaries in Africa, the United Kingdom and representative offices in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, India and France, Access Bank employs over 8,400 people,” said Bidvest.
Following the acquisition, Bidvest Bank is set to be merged with Access Bank’s existing South African subsidiary to create an enlarged platform to anchor the regional growth strategy for the SADC region.
“This acquisition supports our ambition to expand across Africa and solidify our presence in key markets, with South Africa being a top priority,” said Roosevelt Ogbonna, MD and CEO of Access Bank Plc.
“It underscores our commitment to establishing a more resilient, diversified, and sustainable business model that leverages technology to meet evolving customer needs.”
“Bidvest Bank provides a unique opportunity to blend its strong local expertise with Access Bank’s robust trade and retail banking capabilities, creating a platform for long-term growth and value creation.”
Access Bank said that the transaction aligns with its ambition to become a major player in each market it operates.
Using Bidvest Bank’s local capabilities and its established pan-African presence, Access Bank hopes that it will have increased capacity for intra- and inter-Africa trade, connect businesses and create new opportunities for regional integration.
The Nigerian-based company noted that South Africa’s banking sector is the largest in Africa, with a combined tier 1 capital exceeding $42.2 billion in 2022.
Despite a tough operating environment, the industry still achieved headline earnings growth of 2.5% year-on-year and maintained strong profitability (ROE of 17%) in the first half of 2024.
Access Bank added that it will leverage the acquisition to strengthen its business and SME banking as well as its foreign exchange services, while also introducing new services tailored to the South African market.
Access Bank has already been operating in South Africa since 2021 after it acquired Grobank Limited.
Grobank, which was previously known as Bank of Athens, was primarily focused on agriculture before Access Bank transformed it into a retail banking operation.
The group currently offers personal, business, and corporate banking in South Africa.
Bidvest sells more
On top of the announcement to sell its banking division, Bidvest also announced that it reached an agreement to dispose of 100% of FinGlobal to the Momentum Group subject to regulatory approvals.
“This acquisition supports our stated strategic intent to invest in financial advice to drive growth,” said Johann le Roux, CEO of Momentum Retail.
“FinGlobal’s financial emigration capabilities will not only strengthen Momentum’s existing holistic financial planning, advice and fiduciary capabilities but also support other industry players’ service offerings.”
“Global mobility and emigration amongst affluent and high net worth clients will continue in future Advice plays a critical role in managing the financial realities of global mobility in a responsible way.”
All FinGlobal employees will be retained as part of the transaction.
Bidvest also announced that it was in possession of binding offers from existing life insurers for 100% of Bidvest Life.
In December, Bidvest said that one of these offers will be advanced to an agreement in the coming weeks.
“Bidvest Bank, FinGlobal and Bidvest Life will be disclosed as a Disposal Group held for sale in the consolidated Bidvest financial statements for the financial year, which commenced 1 July 2024.”
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