Capitec offer to acquire bank accepted

Capitec Bank has emerged as the victor in its bid to acquire the local assets of Mercantile Bank.

In a Sens announcement released late yesterday, Capitec declared that its R3.2 billion offer had been accepted.

The purchase consideration will be paid from capital and cash reserves, as a detailed due diligence on the operations of Mercantile ensues.

Capitec shrugged off competition from Nedbank and the PIC, which were earlier shortlisted as part of four potential buyers to participate in the second phase of the sale process of Mercantile Bank, following approval by the Portuguese government.

The PIC is Africa’s largest asset manager, managing public sector funds in excess of R1.9 trillion.

Capitec Bank said it believes there were many opportunities in the market to serve small-to-medium enterprises and owner-managed businesses better, adding that the bank has commenced with a strategy to develop infrastructure to facilitate the same.

“The acquisition of Mercantile will obviate the need to reinvent and create new systems and processes from scratch and thus fast-track the bank’s objective to expand its focus to a broader bank strategy,” said Capitec in a statement.

Meanwhile, Karl Kumbier, CEO of Mercantile Bank, said he was excited that Capitec chose Mercantile as its partner to build the best business bank in SA.

“Capitec is a brand that is associated with hard work, innovation and disruption. It is the fastest growing bank in the country and has over 10 million clients.”

While the sale agreement remains to be signed by all parties involved and is subject to approval by the relevant South African regulatory bodies, Kumbier says the bank is looking forward to the next phase of its growth journey.

“We are very excited about the potential new opportunities we can unlock under the ownership of Capitec,” he said.

Capitec is the fastest growing bank in the country and has over 10 million clients. Karl Kumbier CEO of Mercantile Bank