Access Bank to acquire Ugandan bank

Access Bank has agreed to a deal to buy the majority stake in Ugandan-based Finance Trust Bank Limited, its parent company Access Holdings Plc announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The definitive agreement also involved the selling of institutional shareholders of Finance Trust Bank and would transfer 80 per cent ownership of the East African lender to Access Bank when the transaction is completed.

The deal is hoped to reach closure by June, when all the regulatory approvals from both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Uganda will have been received, according to a regulatory filing posted Wednesday.