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The bid by Access Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest banks, to buy Bidvest Bank has collapsed, dealing a blow to the former in its plans to expand in South Africa, where it is still subscale.
Bidvest Group on Monday said it has now resumed talks over the sale of its banking unit, Bidvest Bank, after the deal collapsed.
“The parties have been actively working together to secure approvals. It is, however, unfortunate that certain conditions were not fulfilled by Access Bank by the contractually agreed longstop date, resulting in the termination of the transaction,” Bidvest said in a statement, adding that the bank is still adequately capitalised.
“The considered rationale behind the original Bidvest Financial Services division’s restructure and disposal decision remains a strategic imperative. Bidvest has now relaunched the disposal process,” it said.
“We remain confident in our ability to successfully execute this disposal and will endeavour to accelerate transaction timeframes. Bidvest remains the sole shareholder and will continue to support Bidvest Bank to ensure it continues to be financially sound and operationally stable during this transition period.”
Bidvest, an industrial conglomerate, is divesting from the financial services industry, where it has fallen short in building scale, and is turning its focus to its core, more profitable businesses.
In December 2024 it thought it had found a buyer for its banking business via a R2.8bn deal with Access Bank, which has not been aborted.
However, the likes of Moody’s have always been lukewarm on the deal.
Last month, Moody’s downgraded Bidvest Bank’s credit ratings, citing uncertainty over the sale and the potential reduction in parental support once ownership changes.
Access Bank has been operating in South Africa since 2021 when it acquired Grobank.
Business Day reported last month that all was not well at Access Bank South Africa, with top executives having resigned in quick succession, including CEO Sandile Shabalala, who will step down in March.
The company’s chief compliance officer, Mariska van der Veen, has also left the company, while the head of credit, Subhash Maharaj, has been on suspension since December.
Access Bank earlier this month said it plans to host the second edition of the Africa Trade Conference, in Cape Town next month, bringing together influential leaders from the government, finance, trade, logistics, technology, agriculture and manufacturing to drive practical, outcome-oriented solutions for expanding intra-African and global trade.
Bidvest said it is also progressing with the planned sale of its life insurance unit, Bidvest Life.
The company said its Bidvest Life business is being sold to a private equity-led consortium, “with the transaction still subject to regulatory approvals and other standard conditions”.
Additional reporting by Kabelo Khumalo
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