The Commercial International Bank (CIB) which is an Egyptian bank has acquired a 51 percent shareholding in the Mayfair Bank Limited (MBL) with effect from May 1,2020.
This move follows the approval of the transaction by the Central Bank of Kenya on 7th April 2020 and the approval by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary on 8th April 2020.
CIB has injected additional capital of $35 million into Mayfair under the deal. CIB plans to expand the bank by focusing on the retail segment, corporate banking and trade finance
Mayfair Bank was licensed in June 2017 and started operations in August of the same year. The bank has 5 branches so far located in Nairobi, Eldoret and Mombasa. It is categorized as a small bank and by February 2020, it had a market share of 0.17 percent.
CIB on the other hand was licensed by the Central Bank of Egypt in August 1975. It is the leading private sector bank in Egypt with a total asset base of Ksh. 2.45 Trillion. The acquisition of MBL is expected to give the Egyptian bank an anchor to expand in the East African region.
The entry of CIB is expected to diversify and strengthen the resilience of the Kenyan banking sector.