Standard
Chartered has said it has reached an agreement to sell its
subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa to Nigeria's Access Bank, putting into
motion a plan announced last year to divest those businesses.
Standard
Chartered will sell its shareholding in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon,
Gambia, and Sierra Leone to Access. It will also sell its consumer, private
& business banking business in Tanzania to Access Bank, a subsidiary of
Access Holdings.
Standard
Chartered said in April last year that it would exit
seven countries in Africa and the Middle East (AME) as it seeks
to improve profits by focusing on faster-growing markets in the region.
"Access Bank will provide a
full range of banking services and continuity for key stakeholders including
employees and clients of Standard Chartered's businesses across the five
aforementioned countries," Standard Chartered said in a
statement.
The
agreement is in line with Standard Chartered's global strategy "aimed at achieving operational
efficiencies, reducing complexity, and driving scale," it said.
A
value for the deal, which is expected to be completed in the next year, was not
disclosed. The deals are subject to regulatory approvals in each of the
countries as well as in Nigeria.
"This
strategic decision allows us to redirect resources within the AME region to
other areas with significant growth potential," Sunil
Kaushal, Standard Chartered's regional CEO for AME, said in the statement.
The
statement said the deal would help Access "build a strong global franchise
focused on serving as a gateway for payments, investment, and trade within
Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world".
"With our recent European
expansion and our deepened presence in key trading corridors across Africa, we
will bridge the gap between cross-border and domestic transfers across all
business segments," Access Group Managing Director Roosevelt Ogbonna
said in the statement.
Source:
Reuters