Access Bank remains bullish in South Africa’s market despite Bidvest deal collapse

Access Holdings Plc, the largest financial group by assets, has reaffirmed its confidence in South Africa’s financial market despite the termination of the proposed acquisition of Bidvest Bank by its banking subsidiary, Access Bank Plc.

In a disclosure to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the financial services group explained that the long-stop date for the transaction expired without completion, as certain conditions required to finalise the deal were not fully met.

“We remain focused on building Africa’s most respected financial institution, strengthening our trade finance capabilities and delivering long-term value to customers, partners and communities across all our markets,” Roosevelt Ogbonna, the managing director of Access Bank said.

He added that this initial outcome does not diminish the bank’s confidence in South Africa’s financial ecosystem.

Read also: Access Bank’s bid for Bidvest Bank collapses as South African sale process restarts

Ogbonna also expressed appreciation to Bidvest for its cooperation throughout the process. “We thank the Board and Management of Bidvest for their patience and support throughout this process,” he said.

In a separate announcement Bidvest Bank said the deal was terminated with Access Bank and it reopened talks with other potential buyers for its banking subsidiary.

“The parties have been actively working together to secure approvals. It is, however, unfortunate that certain conditions were not fulfilled by Access Bank by the contractually agreed longstop date, resulting in the termination of the transaction,” Bidvest said in a statement.

The group added that Bidvest Bank remains adequately capitalised and operationally stable, noting that it will continue to support the lender while the renewed disposal process is underway.