Jamii Bora Bank CEO Samuel Kimani. PHOTO | FILE
By CHARLES MWANIKI, cmwaniki@ke.nationmedia.com
Jamii Bora Bank has raised Sh1.2 billion through an
equity investment from two PE firms, with the bank looking to expand its
SME lending book.
Equator Capital Partners and Progression Capital Africa Ltd
have made the investment jointly, giving them a significant stake in the
third-tier lender which is ranked Kenya’s 30th in market share at 0.47
per cent as per latest CBK data.
Although Jamii Bora did not disclose the size of
stake taken up by the new investors, sources said that the bank has
created additional shares to accommodate the new investors. None of the
existing shareholders have sold their stakes as a result of the new
investment.
Equator Capital typically invests between $3
million (Sh300 million) and $12 million (Sh1.2 billion) for an ownership
of between five and 25 per cent of a financial institution.
Progression Capital’s investment criteria see it
put in between $2 million (Sh200 million) and $8 million (Sh800 million)
for what it terms significant minority stakes and full board
participation rights.
“Their investment will support us as we further
expand our reach to underserved SMEs and communities, both rural and
urban, all across the country,” Jamii Bora’s CEO Samuel Kimani said in a
statement.
The last significant equity movement at Jamii Bora
came last year when PE firm Catalyst Principal Partners raised its stake
in the bank to 11 per cent, nearly three times its initial investment.
The increase in Catalyst’s stake saw the lender’s
foreign investor owned portion rise to 37 per cent, meaning that the
latest round of equity sale could have pushed it beyond the 40 per cent
mark going by the investment criteria of the two new PE investors.
Catalyst had made its initial investment in the
bank through a rights issue in December 2014, where it bought a 4.4 per
cent stake.
Last year, it bought more Jamii Bora shares through the over-the-counter (OTC) market, consequently getting a seat on board.
Other large investors in Jamii Bora include Scandinavia AB and Nordic Microcap
No comments :
Post a Comment