Atlas courts ABC minority shareholders
Staff Writer | Wednesday September 24, 2014 16:06
Atlas Mara has already snapped up 95,84 percent of ABC’s shares, paving way for the delisting of ABC Holdings from the local and Zimbabwe bourses, as the banking group transitions into a privately owned company.
ABC is the holding company for retail medium-sized banking entity, BancABC.
“Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Limited, a public company incorporated according to the British Virgin Islands has acquired ownership and control of 95.84 percent of the issued ordinary shares in ABC Holdings Limited and will make an offer to the holders of ordinary issued shares in ABCH listed on the BSE and ZSE, other than ADC Financial Services and Corporate Development Limited, who have not already sold their ABCH shares,” the company said in statement released to the BSE on Monday.
It said the consideration to be offered is P7.49 equivalent of $0.82 as at September 15, 2014 for each ABC Holdings Share listed on the BSE, and $0.82 per ABC Holdings Share listed on the ZSE held by minority shareholders to whom the offer is addressed. Profit at BancABC rose 49 percent to P198 million in 2013.
Atlas Mara was born out of a combination of Bob Diamond’s Atlas Merchant Capital LLC and African entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar’s Mara Group Holdings Limited.
BancABC has presence in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Former Barclays PLC Chief executive Diamond is looking to take his former bank’s strategy of focusing on expanding African operations with acquisitions spread across the continent.
Apart from the $265 million ABC deal, early this month Atlas upped its stake in Union Bank of Nigeria from about 9 percent to just below 30 percent for a $270 million consideration.
It later signed a deal to buy 77 percent of the Development Bank of Rwanda, establishing a platform for Atlas’ expansion into the east African region.
Union Bank is one of Nigeria’s most established banks with a network of 340 branches across the country. It was hard hit in Nigeria’s 2009 banking crash and was one of eight lenders that had to be bailed out – to the tune of $4bn – by the central bank.
Atlas Mara, which floated in December last year, initially gained strong backing for its plans, securing $325m through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
Atlas Mara will invest US$100 million in BancABC after the transactions are completed which is expected to boost the company’s capital-adequacy ratios.