Bidvest sells banking business to Access Bank for R2.8bn

While FinGlobal will be sold to Momentum.

JSE-listed Bidvest Group announced in a statement on Sens on Thursday that it has agreed to sell its entire banking business to Access Bank for around R2.8 billion.

The transaction is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals from the relevant authorities.

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Listen: Bidvest seeing signs of recovering business conditions

Bidvest’s share price traded at R282.45 around 11:30 on Thursday – up 1.20% from the previous day.

Access Bank is Nigeria’s biggest lender. The bank also has a presence in the United Kingdom and 16 African subsidiaries with “representative offices” in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, India, and France.

In 2021, Access Bank gained a foothold in South Africa when it bought Grobank.

According to the statement, the lender employs over 8 400 people, has over 60 million customers globally, and has a network of 700 branches in 23 countries.

Bidvest’s management expects the regulatory approvals for the transaction to take six months to achieve with an expected effective date before the end of the current financial year.

The group, which has financial, freight management, automotive, and cleaning services businesses in its portfolio, first announced its intention to sell Bidvest Bank and FinGlobal – its financial migration business – in July this year.

Read: Bidvest to sell its banking and financial migration businesses

The disposal of Bidvest Bank is part of a broader restructuring of its financial services segment. The group previously said it would also dispose of Bidvest Life.

In addition to selling the bank, the group reached an agreement to sell all of FinGlobal to financial services group Momentum.

It also received binding offers for the sale of Bidvest Life from existing insurers. “One of these offers will be advanced to an agreement in the coming weeks.”

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Bidvest Group will use the proceeds of the disposals to settle existing debt.

Read: Bidvest reports 8.5% FY profit growth

“On a pro-forma basis, Bidvest’s net debt/Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) reduces to 1.6x compared to the reported 1.7x as of 30 June 2024,” it notes.

Bidvest Bank sale

Mpumi Madisa, group CEO, says Access Bank provides an “exciting future” for Bidvest Bank with good growth potential.

“Bidvest Group will continue to support Bidvest Bank until the sale process is complete. We will honour our responsibility to ensure that the business remains financially sound and operationally stable during the transition period, keeping the relevant regulators and stakeholders informed throughout the process,” she adds.

Read: SA Reserve Bank fines HSBC and Bidvest Bank for non-compliance

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