CDC Group Plc is seeking to purchase a 10.68 percent stake in I&M Holdings Ltd. of Kenya through a private share transfer, the lender said in a statement.
The U.K.-based development finance institution entered into a conditional agreement Thursday to buy shares held by Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and Proparco, which have 6.25 percent and 4.43 percent respectively, according to a statement in Nairobi-based Daily Nation.
Kenya’s sixth-largest lender by assets is awaiting regulatory approval to acquire a small lender, Giro Commercial Bank. I&M Holdings also has authorization to purchase a 65 percent share of Nairobi-based Burbidge Capital Ltd., a corporate finance advisory firm that also has operations in Uganda.
Kenya’s central bank, which has had three small lenders put under statutory management in the past nine months, has said the nation’s financial institutions should look for natural consolidation. The $61 billion East African economy has 42 banks serving 44 million people.
