HARARE - Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Limited (Atlas Mara)’s acquisition of banking group ABC Holdings (ABCH, parent company of BancABC) is on course following its announcement of the voluntary public share-for-share offer for all shares of ABC major shareholder African Development Corporation AG (ADC).
Through its subsidiary Atlas Mara Beteiligungs AG, Atlas Mara will acquire all shares in ADC at an exchange ratio of 1,25 Atlas Mara shares to be listed on the London Stock Exchange for each ADC share.
The finalisation of the transaction will see Atlas Mara gaining 38 percent of BancABC stake through its acquisition of ADC, bringing total ownership in BancABC up to 88 percent.
Atlas Mara also made a subsequent mandatory offer for the remaining 12 percent stake in BancABC, which is not held by ADC.
ADC shareholders representing 34,1 percent of ADC’s shares outstanding have provided irrevocable undertakings to tender their shares into offer.
This offer corresponds to a price of €10,45 per ADC share based on average share price of Atlas Mara during three months period immediately prior to march 31, 2014.
ABC through its flagship Banc ABC brand, has banking operations in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania.
In April, Atlas Mara — founded by Bob Diamond and billionaire Ashish Thakkar — announced its intention to acquire the pan-African banking group.
Atlas Mara said the closing date of direct agreements for 50,1 percent of BancABC would be done by August. Atlas Mara wants to gain a foothold on the African market and would achieve that through acquisitions.
Atlas Mara said it intends to build on the sub-Saharan financial services of ADC’s pan-African expertise and ABC (BancABC)’s strong brand and multi-country banking platform and growth prospects.
Meanwhile, Atlas Mara said it has further strengthened its capital position to support future growth with successful raising of approximately $300 million from its private placement and securing of a commitment agreement for a debt facility of up to $200 million.
The company said it would have access to capital (cash-on-hand and debt) of approximately $700 million to execute its strategy to become sub-Saharan Africa’s premier financial services institution.