The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has announced that it has approved the acquisition of National Bank of Kenya by Access Bank Plc. The approval is on condition that it from it retains 80% of the staff for one year.
CAK had this to say in a statement, “The transaction has been approved on condition that Access Bank Plc retains, for a period of one (1) year following completion of the transaction, at least of 80% of the target’s current workforce and all Access Bank (Kenya) Plc employees, its local subsidiary.”
NBK currently has 1,384 employees while Access Bank Kenya has 316. According to CAK, Access Bank will also have to retail 100% of its employees for a period of one year.
National Bank which provides retail, corporate, and Islamic banking services has 77 branches in 28 counties. While Access Bank currently has 23 branches in 12 counties in Kenya. With the deal expected to increase Access’s footprint in Kenya.
The bank’s current operations in Kenya are classified as tier 3 and is ranked 37 out of the 39 licensed commercial banks with a market share of 0.2%, while NBK is a tier 2 lender with a market share of 1.7%. However, with the acquisition, the bank will now move to being a tier 2 lender which will have a market share of 1.9%.
The CAK had this to say, “The combined market size is unlikely to raise competition concerns since it is low. Additionally, the merged entity will face competition from the other banks in the market. The merged entity will face competition from the other banks in the market. Based on the foregoing, the proposed transaction is unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the market.”