Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo

Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo (Equity BCDC) is a commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a merger between Equity Bank Congo (EBC), formerly ProCredit Bank DRCongo, and Banque Commerciale du Congo. This followed the acquisition of majority shareholding in both banks by the Equity Group Holdings Limited, a Kenya-based financial services conglomerate with total assets in excess of US$10 billion.[2]

Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo
(Equity BCDC)
TypePrivate company
Subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Limited
IndustryFinancial Services
Founded2020 (2020)
Headquarters,
Key people
David Ansell
Chairman
Celestin Mukeba Muntuabu
Managing Director
Yves Cuypers
Executive Director
ProductsLoans, Transaction accounts, savings, investments
Total assetsUS$2.5 billion (December 2020).[1]
ParentEquity Group Holdings Limited
Websitewww.equitybank.cd

Equity Bank Congo

EBC was a commercial bank in the DRC. As of May 2015, it was the seventh largest commercial bank in the country, with assets exceeding US$200 million and shareholders' equity of US$25 million. At that time, its customer base exceeded 170,000.[3]

According to 2015 tax filings by Equity Group Holdings Limited, Procredit Bank had an asset base of about US$228.4 million, a loan book of about US$132.67 million, customer deposits of about US$185.5 million, and shareholder's equity valued at US$29 million at the time it was acquired by EGHL. Procredit made an after-tax profit valued at US$5.525 million in Calendar Year 2015.[4] *Note: US$1.00 = KSh100.3, on 30 March 2016

As of August 2018, Equity Bank Congo was reported to be the most profitable subsidiary in the Equity Bank Group, during the first six months of calendar year 2018.[5]

History

Before May 2015, three corporate entities jointly owned 79 percent of Procredit's stock:[3] Procredit Bank, the German Investment Corporation, and Stichting DOEN. The remaining 21 percent was held by KfW (12 percent) and the International Finance Corporation (9 percent).[3]

On 26 May 2015, Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL) of Kenya, a large financial services conglomerate announced that it had agreed to pay US$60 million for 79 percent shareholding in Procredit Bank.[3][6] EGHL has a customer base exceeding 9.2 million in the five East African countries it serves, making it the largest commercial bank on the African continent by customer numbers.[7] The deal was concluded following regulatory approval by Kenyan and Congolese authorities, which was obtained in September 2015.[4][8]

Banque Commerciale du Congo

BCDC was established in 1909 as the Banque du Congo Belge. Prior to the merger with EBC, BCDC was the second largest bank in the DRC, as measured by balance sheet and shareholders equity. On 9 September 2019, Equity Bank Group, announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in BCDC.[9]

In September 2019, Equity Bank Group began talks to acquire a controlling stake in Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC), the second-largest commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[9] If and when the transaction is concluded, the new acquisition is expected to be merged with the existing Equity Bank Congo.[10]

In November 2019, Business Daily Africa reported that Equity Bank Group had agreed to pay US$106 million (KSh10.7 billion) to the George Arthur Forrest Group, in exchange of 66.5 percent ownership in BCDC. In addition, Equity Group Holdings was contemporaneously in negotiations with KfW, to acquire an extra 7.6 percent stake in Equity Bank Congo.[11] All these acquisitions are subject to regulatory and shareholder approval from Kenya, DR Congo and COMESA.[12]

As of 16 November 2020, Kenyan print media reported that Equity Bank Group had completed the acquisition of 66.53 percent shareholding in BCDC, after paying US$95 million in August 2020. As of then, the merger between BCDC and Equity Bank Congo was ongoing.[13]

Ownership

As of December 2020, the shareholding in Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo, is as illustrated in the table below:[2]

Equity BCDC Stock Ownership
RankName of OwnerPercentage Ownership
1Equity Group Holdings Limited
77.5
2International Finance Corporation
3Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
4Minority shareholders
Total
100.00

Branches

As of May 2015, PBD maintained 15 networked service branches. At that time, EGHL planned to increase the branch list to 30.[14] As of August 2018, the bank's branch list had increased to 41.[5]

Rebranding

In July 2018, nearly three years since the acquisition by EGHL, Procredit Bank re-branded to Equity Bank Congo, to reflect the prevailing shareholding.[15] In December 2020, following the issuance of approval from DRC government regulators, EGHL began the process of merging EBC and BCDC to form Equity BCDC.[16]

As of December 2020, according to The EastAfrican, Equity BCDC had total assets in excess of US$2.5 billion and a total of 74 bank branches. At that time its customer base was nearly one million clients.[1]

See also

References

  1. The EastAfrican (6 January 2021). "Equity Gets Approval To Merge DRC Subsidiaries Into New Bank Branches". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  2. Patrick Alushula (31 December 2020). "Equity Group gets approval to merge two banks in DRC". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  3. BDAfrica Reporter (26 May 2015). "Equity Buys 79 Percent Stake In DR Congo's ProCredit Bank". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  4. Ngigi, George (30 March 2016). "Equity says it paid Sh4.5 Billion for Congo bank acquisition". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  5. Munda, Constant (21 August 2018). "Equity Bank's DRC branch becomes most profitable subsidiary". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  6. Equity Group Holdings Limited (October 2014). "Equity Bank Group Financial Statement As At 30th September 2014". Equity Group Holdings Limited. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  7. Flood, Zoe (3 July 2014). "Kenya's Mobile Innovation Brings Digital Money Closer". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. Business Daily Arica (26 May 2016). "Equity runs ahead of rivals with takeover of DRC bank". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. Adonijah Ndege (9 September 2019). "Equity to expand in DRC with acquisition of second-largest bank". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. Patrick Alushula (11 September 2019). "Equity tipped to spend Sh17bn in DRC bank deal". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  11. Edwin Okoth (19 November 2019). "Equity to pay family Sh10bn for DRC bank". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  12. James Anyanzwa (19 November 2019). "Kenya's Equity Bank to acquire Congolese lender at $105 million". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  13. Patrick Alushula (16 November 2020). "Equity Group books Sh907m gain on DRC bank buyout". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  14. Masinde, Joshua (26 May 2015). "Equity Buys KSh6 Billion Stake In German Bank To Enter The DRC". Daily Nation. Nairobi. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  15. Ngugi, Brian (19 July 2018). "Equity rebrands Congo subsidiary three years after acquisition". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  16. Julie Owino (31 December 2020). "Equity Bank Congo And Banque Commerciale Du Congo (BCDC) Receive Regulatory Approval For Merger". Nairobi: 98.4 Capital FM. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
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