Atlas Mara Limited , formerly referred to as Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Limited , is a financial services holding company formed to undertake the acquisition of target banks in Africa .
28-977: Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL), formerly Equity Bank Group, is a financial services holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. EGHL's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya , with subsidiaries in Kenya , Uganda , Tanzania , South Sudan , Rwanda , Democratic Republic of the Congo and a representative office in Ethiopia. EGHL is the largest financial services conglomerate in East and Central Africa . As of August 2021, it had assets exceeding KSh 1.119 Trillion (US$ 10.1 billion). The group also had over 14 million customers in six African Great Lakes countries, with KSh790.6 billion (US$ 7.61 billion) in deposits. In June 2008, EGHL
56-646: A 20.9 per cent stake in the Union Bank of Nigeria from Asset Management Company of Nigeria for $ 270 million, putting its total holding in the firm at almost 30 percent. On 22 September 2014, Atlas Mara made a mandatory offer for remaining 4.2% outstanding shareholding in ABC Holdings that the group did not hold in ABCH. The minority shareholders would either opt for a cash consideration or receive 0.0683 ordinary shares of Atlas Mara for each ABCH share held. This will lead to
84-569: A Ksh700 million ($ 6.37 million) profit before taxation making it the most profitable subsidiary of the group. This successful acquisition made EGHL surpass the Kshs 1 Trillion balance sheet mark making it the first bank in East and Central Africa to achieve that. In August 2021, EGHL became the second most capitalized corporate entity at the Nairobi stock Exchange after hitting Kshs 200 Billion market capitalization mark. The stock of Equity Group Holdings Limited
112-719: A controlling stake in Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC), the second-largest commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If and when the transaction is concluded, the new acquisition is expected to be merged with the existing Equity Bank Congo . In August 2020, Equity Group Holdings paid US$ 95 million (approx. KES:10.2 billion), for a 66.5 percent ownership in BCDC. Once the regulatory approvals are obtained, BCDC will be integrated into Equity Bank Congo. In October 2019, The Group rebranded to Equity thereby eliminating
140-490: A new wholly owned subsidiary, Equity Bank Kenya Limited , to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets and liabilities. The rationale for the re-organisation is that by converting Equity Bank into a non-trading holding company that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies and provides strategic, brand, risk and talent management to its subsidiaries, the Group will be better placed to invest and to develop
168-469: A tax free basis, borrow money, acquire other banks and non-bank entities more easily, and issue stock with greater regulatory ease. It also has a greater legal authority to conduct share repurchases of its own stock. The downside includes responding to additional regulatory authorities, especially if there are more than 2,000 shareholders (note: prior to the Jobs Act or Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act ,
196-532: Is "ATMA.LN". It trades by appointment in the United States on the Pink Sheets under the ticker symbol "AAMAF". On 31 March 2014, Atlas Mara announced that it had made an offer to acquire sub-Saharan African bank ABC Holdings Limited and Frankfurt based African Development Corporation AG for approximately $ 265 million. This was to be done through a three phase acquisition strategy: This acquisition would give
224-638: Is a significant and strategic intervention by the bank. By September 2015, Equity Bank had more than 9.2 million customers. The Banker listed Equity Bank among the Top 1,000 Banks in the World with the highest return on assets in the African continent, generating a rate of 6.84 per cent on assets deployed. Prior to November 2014, Equity Bank was both a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries. On 31 October 2014, Equity Bank Group announced its intention to incorporate
252-885: Is often used to refer to these companies as well. In the United States, a bank holding company , as provided by the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 ( 12 U.S.C. § 1841 et seq. ), is broadly defined as "any company that has control over a bank". All bank holding companies in the US are required to register with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System . The Federal Reserve Board of Governors , under Regulation Y ( 12 CFR 225 ) has responsibility for regulating and supervising bank holding company activities, such as establishing capital standards , approving mergers and acquisitions and inspecting
280-563: Is traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange , under the symbol: EQTY . On Thursday 18 June 2009, the Group's stock cross listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and started trading that day, under the symbol: EBL . As of December 2016, shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below: As of 31 December 2020, shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below; The following are
308-811: The Federal Reserve 's credit facilities. Atlas Mara Limited The Group's headquarters are located in Tortola , British Virgin Islands , with subsidiaries and investments in Botswana , Germany , Mozambique , Nigeria , Rwanda , South Africa , South Sudan , Tanzania , Zambia and Zimbabwe . Atlas Mara was founded on 28 November 2013, by former Barclays Executive Bob Diamond and entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar through Atlas Merchant Capital LLC and Mara Group Holdings Limited as their investment vehicles respectively. Atlas Merchant held 80% while Mara Group held 20% of
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#1733085545530336-482: The African continent outside South Africa . As of the financial year ending 2020, EGHL reported an asset base worth Ksh1.015 trillion ($ 9.244 billion). The total group of customers was 14.3 million, with Ksh740.8 billion ($ 6.74 billion) in deposits. In 2019, over 97% of EGHL transactions were done outside branches; with 79% via money and 11% via agency. In July 2020, the Euromoney Awards for Excellence voted EGHL as
364-651: The Best Bank in Africa and for the second time in a row, the Best Digital Bank in Africa. In 2021, 98% of the Groups transactions by count were done via its digital platforms which represented 65% of total value of transactions conducted by the group's customers. As of June 2021, EGHL total assets were valued at KSh1.12 trillion (US$ 10.12 billion), with shareholders' funds valued at US$ 1,096,000,000 (KSh121,279,000,000). At that time
392-614: The Company having a controlling stake of the merged business. In 2016, Atlas Mara completed the purchase of Finance Bank of Zambia (FBZ) with consideration settled by approximately $ 61 million in cash and 3.3 million Atlas Mara shares, not including deferred contingent consideration of up to 1.3 million Atlas Mara shares. FBZ will be combined with Atlas Mara's Zambian subsidiary, African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited ("BancABC Zambia"), with pro forma combined assets as at 31 December 2015 of approximately $ 567 million. The acquisition will position
420-697: The bank group had over 15 million customers and was the largest financial institution in East and Central Africa , when measured by total assets and shareholders' equity. EGHL was founded in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community , as the Equity Building Society in October 1984. It was originally a provider of mortgage financing for customers in the low income population. Also, due to its rural banking orientation, promotion of agribusiness
448-495: The board members of Equity Group Holdings Limited, as of July 2021. The companies that compose the Equity Group Holdings Limited include but are not limited to the following: Bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks , but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp ( banc / bank + corp[oration] ) or bancorporation
476-480: The delisting of ABC Holdings from both the Botswana and Zimbabwe Stock Exchanges . This delisting was finally concluded on 28 November 2014. On 16 October 2014, Atlas Mara announced that it had completed its previously announced acquisition of the Development Bank of Rwanda's commercial banking business which had been spun off into a new subsidiary following an internal reorganization of BRD. This subsidiary
504-646: The entity names the various subsidiaries previously carried like Group, Bank, Insurance, or Investment Bank thereby unifying the various brands according to the group MD and CEO, James Mwangi .This happened as the Group commemorated its 35th anniversary. On 30 December 2020, Equity Group Holdings received regulatory approval from the DRC government to merge Equity Bank Congo (EBC) and the Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC) into Equity BCDC. In August 2021, data from EGHL reported that in six months ending June, Equity BCDC made
532-424: The existing and new businesses as part of its third phase of growth and transformation. These resolutions were all adopted during an extraordinary shareholders general meeting held on 24 November 2014 leading to the formation of Equity Bank Kenya Limited. In September 2015, the group completed its acquisition of 79 percent of DR Congo based ProCredit Bank Congo SARL from Procredit Group . This acquisition marked
560-641: The five countries involved. In exchange for that ownership, ATMA will receive 6.27 percent shareholding in Equity Group Holdings Limited. In June 2020, the New Times (Rwanda) newspaper reported that the ...."binding term sheet that has been signed for the proposed acquisition of Atlas Mara Group’s assets in Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia had expired with the parties not having signed detailed transaction agreements".... Those plans were called off at that time. In September 2019, Equity Bank Group began talks to acquire
588-529: The group presence in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe and a minority stake in the Union Bank of Nigeria . The Transaction was scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014. On 24 May 2014, Atlas Mara announced that the group would be acquiring Government of Rwanda stake in the commercial arm of the Rwanda Development Bank ( BRD ). In September 2014, Atlas Mara acquired
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#1733085545530616-702: The group's entry into sub-Saharan Africa’s third most populous country. In April 2019, The EastAfrican newspaper reported that Equity Group had signed binding memoranda with Atlas Mara Limited (ATMA), to acquire banking units belonging to ATMA, in Zambia , Mozambique , Tanzania and Rwanda , in a share swap valued at US$ 105.71 million (KSh10.7 billion). The acquisition includes 62 percent of Banque Populaire du Rwanda , 100 percent of African Banking Corporation of Zambia , African Banking Corporation of Mozambique and African Banking Corporation of Tanzania . The transaction requires approval from regulators and shareholders from
644-716: The merged bank as one of the largest banks in terms of branch footprint in Zambia with the physical presence increasing from 23 branches to 65 branches, a total of 176 ATMs and 23 agencies. In April 2019, Atlas Mara announced that it had entered into a share swap with Equity Group Holdings Limited. The deal would see Atlas Mara transfer 62 per cent of Banque Populaire du Rwanda , 100 per cent of African Banking Corporation of Zambia , African Banking Corporation of Mozambique and African Banking Corporation of Tanzania to Equity Group in exchange for 6.27 per cent shareholding in Equity Group in
672-635: The operations of such companies. This authority applies even though a bank owned by a holding company may be under the primary supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . Becoming a bank holding company makes it easier for the firm to raise capital than as a traditional bank. The holding company can assume debt of shareholders on
700-550: The shareholder number was 300), at which point the bank holding company is forced to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission . There are also added expenses of operating with an extra layer of administration. As a result of the 2007–2008 financial crisis , many traditional investment banks and finance corporations such as Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , American Express , CIT Group and GMAC (now Ally Financial ) converted to bank holding companies to gain access to
728-642: The venture upon incorporation. The Group's geographical area of focus is on the African continent. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a SPAC on 17 December 2013, through an IPO which raised USD 325 million. As of 22 November 2024, the stock price had crashed and had lost 99.999% of its IPO price (issued at £10.20 per share, last trade was on 31 May 2024 at 0.0001 pence per share) and has effectively ceased trading. The ticker symbol in London
756-485: Was incorporated to run the commercial loan portfolio, BRD's Insurance brokerage firm and a piece of a commercial plot adjacent to BRD’s Kigali headquarters. In April 2015, the group announced its intention to acquire a significant minority interest in Banque Populaire du Rwanda SA (BPR). The group would then marge BPR's business to that span off BRD then acquire secondary shares from existing shareholders resulting in
784-835: Was voted by Euromoney Awards for Excellence as the best bank in Kenya. EGHL was named the overall best bank in Kenya at the Renaissance Capital Bank Awards in August 2008 and was cited locally as the only stock that returned positive shareholder value during 2008 at the Nairobi Stock Exchange . EGHL was named as the Best Performing Company in Africa during the annual African Investor Index Awards, held on 21 September 2009, in New York City . EGHL has exclusive rights to issue American Express credit cards across
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