National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has issued an advisory circular to all its shareholders on the bid by Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) for 100 percent acquisition of its business.
The circular comes with an independent advisor’s report, letters to shareholders and acceptance forms, which the shareholders have to go through to decide either to accept or reject KCB’s proposal for the full takeover of the bank.
The main objective of the circular is to enable the shareholders make sound decision on the bid or seek advice from stockbrokers, investment advisors, accountants, bankers or any other professional advisors concerning the issue.
“NBK remains to be a strong bank, and it requires additional capitals to meet regulatory capital requirements and to grow its business, which can be provided by KCB,” NBK chairman Mohamed Hassan says in the letter to the shareholders.
KCB has made a proposal to acquire 100 percent of the NBK’s ordinary shares upon re-designation of the preference shares into ordinary shares.
The take-over attempt outlined several predicating factors which include NBK to continue to operate as separate subsidiary of KCB for two years and combining the balance sheets of the two banks is aimed at increasing the capital capacity of the banks.
A press statement released by NBK indicated that the transaction between the banks is subject to the procurement of the regulatory approvals from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the Central Bank of Kenya and Competition Authority of Kenya.
