CBK green lights Jamii Bora buyout by Co-op Bank

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has given the nod for the acquisition of Jamii Bora Bank (JBB) by the Cooperative Bank of Kenya.

The acquisition is now set to be completed by August 21 following further approvals by among them the Jamii Bora shareholders and the National Treasury.

The reserve bank has welcomed the transaction backing it to diversify the business models of the pair of lenders while enhancing the resilience of Kenya’s banking sector.

The transaction has been arrived at through the Co-op bank acquisition of 224.2 million ordinary shares in JBB in exchange for a Ksh.1 billion capital injection.

Co-op bank is further expected to appoint a new board to run Jamii Bora.

Co-op bank will further be seeking to tap on Jamii Bora’s network which incorporates 444,000 customers and 17 branches across the country to further solidify on its market position.

The Co-operative Bank is Kenya’s fourth largest lender by asset base after KCB, Equity and NCBA and has an asset base exceeding Ksh.470 billion drawn from its heavy co-operative movement base of 15 million members.

Co-op became Jamii Bora’s new suitor earlier this year after CBA bank dropped its bid for the lender to merge with NIC creating the present NCBA Group.