[2008-08-22]  Equity to Sell Shares Held By Foreigners
Equity Bank has announced plans to dilute its foreign shareholding through an initial public offering (IPO) at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

The bank's chief executive officer, Mr James Mwangi told a forum organised by the British Council at a Nairobi hotel Wednesday evening the move was the expansionist bank's next strategy.



"The next stage is an IPO. The strategic partners have served their purpose and their shares need to be diluted and the investment returned to Kenyans," Mr Mwangi said.

The talk was on innovative banking with Equity, which transformed from a building society to a bank, as a case study.

Foreign investors own 35 per cent of the listed bank's shares while 65 per cent were held by 10,000 locals who include the bank's staff.

However, Mr Mwangi did not state the percentage of shares the foreign investors would cede.

London-based Helios EB is among the foreign shareholders. It snapped 24.99 per cent of shares last year at a cost of Sh11 billion.

Others are Africap which includes International Finance Corporation, World Bank and European Investment Bank. Local firm British American Insurance also owns shares in the bank.

Mr Mwangi said the bank sought foreign investors to cushion it against political interference that led to the collapse of some indigenous financial institutions.

"We needed a strategic anchor partner to cushion the bank from political interference.

"If they came to demand shares, we would have told them that IFC had refused."

From next week, Mr Mwangi said the customers would be able to make at least 15 transactions using mobile phones in a bid to remove more people from the banking halls.

Mr Mwangi said the bank's focus on the whole economy had paid off, adding that the bank intended to open seven branches in northern Kenya to serve more sectors.


Source: Allafrica