KCB group PLC has listed an additional 142.9 million shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) following the successful acquisition of the National Bank Of Kenya (NBK).
Effectively, NBK shareholders who swapped their shares for those of KCB will now freely trade the new stocks at the bourse. KCB got consent to acquire NBK from shareholders holding 297.1 million issued ordinary shares out of 338.7million issued ordinary shares, representing 87.7% by the offer closure date on August 30, 2019.
This brings to the total to 3.2 billion, the number of shares the biggest bank by asset base in eastern Africa has floated at the NSE. While speaking during the bell ringing ceremony to commence the listing of the new shares at the NSE trading floor today, KCB Group Chairman Andrew Wambari Kairu said that the listing will enhance the vibrancy of the capital market and will be instrumental in fueling continued business growth and the execution of the bank’s expansion plans. He further said that it would provide more shares and therefore liquidity on the counter, allowing more investors to be part of the bank.
The NSE Chairman Mr. Samuel Kimani Butteressed the fact that the listing will create additional value to the KCB shareholders and boosting overall market participation.
KCB has started the process of integrating NBK into KCB, an exercise that is expected to be completed within the next 24 months, focusing on systems, processes, people and institutional governance.
