Access Bank Plc, a Nigerian banking group and parent company of Access Bank Botswana has sold off 8% of its stake in its Botswana subsidiary Access Bank Botswana. Its share price jumped from P1.80 to P2.04 following the first transaction.
The transactions occurred on June 27 and 28 June, according to a Botswana Stock Exchange filing. Access Bank Plc sold 38 million and 21 million shares respectively for a total of P116 million ($8.6 million). It is unclear whether the shares were sold to a specific entity or offloaded into the public market.
The sell-off reduces the lender’s stake in Access Bank Botswana from 78.15% to 69.99%. It will also reduce Access Bank Plc’s voting shares by 8%.
The move comes as Access Bank Botswana recorded rapid growth and solid financial results. Per its latest results released last week, Access Bank Botswana recorded a profit before tax of P52 million , surpassing last year’s figure by 86%. The company also recorded an increase in customer deposits to P7.7 billion while gross loans were at P6.3 billion, a slight dip from last year.
In October 2021, Access Bank acquired a 78.15% stake in the Botswana subsidiary of ABC Holdings for P1.07 billion. All BancABC branches rebranded to “Access Bank Botswana.”
Access Bank has expanded rapidly across the continent in the past decade, building a presence in 16 markets including the UK, and plans to expand to Asia. This week, the lender flagged off its plan to raise $233 million to support its growth to become a global bank.