Kenya has a total of 44 banks-31 are locally owned with the rest in the hands of foreigners. Of these lending institutions, 27 are commercial banks and one is a mortgage financial institution. According to top banks in Kenya, the government has a stake in three locally owned lenders. In recent years, we have witnessed banks either merging or acquiring smaller banks in a bid to increase their portfolio.
In this article, WoK takes a look at some of the Kenyans who made billions from selling banks.
Peter Kenneth
Peter Kenneth is a politician who has in the past served as Gatanga constituency Member of Parliament. On April 24th 2020, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) issued a statement revealing that Mayfair Bank Limited (MBL) which was owned by Peter Kenneth, had sold 51 percent of its shares to Commercial International Bank (CIB) which has its headquarters in Egypt. At the time, MBL had five branches spread across Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret. The bank is categorized as a small bank with 0.17 percent market share as of February 2020 and targets high net worth persons and corporate institutions. Although not publicly disclosed, Peter Kenneth who was the founder and majority shareholder of the bank is said to have pocketed a good amount of money from the deal.
Also Read: Top Ten Banks Offering The Cheapest Loans In Kenya
Ambrose Rachier
Ambrose Rachier is a renowned lawyer and Director of Mayfair Insurance – a subsidiary of Mayfair Group which has 50,000 shares at Mayfair Bank. After the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) announced the confirmation of the sale of Mayfair Bank to Egyptian based CIB Mr. Rachier, who is one of the top investors and shareholders of Mayfair Bank smiled all the way to the bank. The Egyptian Bank acquired Mayfair at a price of Ksh3.5 billion and took over the operations and assets of the bank as from 1st May 2020.
Mohammed Jaffer
Mohammed Jaffer is a renowned Mombasa-based businessman who owns Grain Bulk Handlers and serves as the Chairman of MJ Group – a conglomerate which is the largest provider of cargo handling services in the country. Jaffer was also among the top shareholders of Mayfair bank and made millions of dollars from the acquisition of the lender.
Anjay V. Patel
Anjay V. Patel, who served as the Chairman of Mayfair Bank, was also a beneficiary from the deal with the Egyptian Bank which is listed in the Cairo Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.
Gideon Moi
Gideon Moi is the current Baringo County senator and the chairman of Kenya African National Union (KANU) political party. He owned Transnational Bank through associates such as Joshua Kulei and Simon Nyachae. In 2019, CAK approved the acquisition of Transnational Bank by Access Bank for an undisclosed figure. Access Bank which has its headquarters in Nigeria and operations in 7 African countries acquired a 93.57 percent stake. At the time, Transnational Bank had assets worth Ksh 10.2 billion while Access Bank boasts of assets worth Ksh 1.17 trillion which are spread across Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Zambia, China and the United Kingdom (UK).
