Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets, Access Bank, is in advanced stages of completing its acquisition of the KCB Group-owned National Bank of Kenya (NBK), five months after the deal was expected to close.
Speaking during the Release of the 2024 Full-Year Financial Results on Wednesday, March 12, KCB Group CEO Paul Russo confirmed that the acquisition is still on track.
“We are at advanced stages of regulatory approval from both sides. I am very confident that we are at the tail,” Russo said.
Kenya’s Competition Authority (CAK), in October 2024, approved the transaction on condition that Access Bank retains at least 80% of NBK’s 1,384-man workforce for one year after the acquisition.
Access Bank was also directed to retain all 316 employees of Access Bank Kenya, its local subsidiary. CAK’s approval brought the deal one step closer to completion.
