South African lender Nedbank has completed its acquisition of a 66 percent controlling stake in Kenya's NCBA Group, in a deal valued at about R13.9 billion, giving the Johannesburg-based bank a major foothold in East Africa.

Nedbank confirmed the completion through a Stock Exchange News Service announcement on 5 November, and the shares were transferred through a block trade on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on Tuesday, 3 November. The single trade pushed the day's equity turnover on the Nairobi bourse to KES 107.7 billion, against KES 420.4 million in the previous session.

NCBA is now a subsidiary of Nedbank, but it keeps its name, its Nairobi headquarters, its management team and its listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The remaining 34 percent of the bank stays in public hands.

How the deal was paid for

The transaction was structured as a mix of shares and cash. Nedbank issued 43,631,052 new shares at a settlement price of ZAR 250 each, and paid KES 23,228,613,860.87 in cash to shareholders who accepted the offer. That works out at roughly 80 percent of the consideration in shares and 20 percent in cash.

The offer attracted far more shares than Nedbank needed. When it closed on 10 July 2026, holders of 79.90 percent of NCBA's issued shares had tendered, against Nedbank's target of about 66 percent. Former NCBA shareholders who accepted now hold about 8.37 percent of the enlarged Nedbank Group.

The deal was first announced in January 2026, when Nedbank said it intended to acquire the controlling stake through a tender offer. The Central Bank of Kenya approved the purchase on 28 August under Section 13(4) of the Banking Act, and Kenya's Capital Markets Authority waived the requirement for a full takeover offer in February. NCBA shares were suspended from trading from 21 October until 2 November so the share register could be reconciled ahead of settlement.

What Nedbank is buying

NCBA is one of East Africa's largest banking groups, operating in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The lender reported KSh23.4 billion in profit after tax for 2025, and its digital lending operations are a significant part of the business. BusinessDay reported that NCBA serves more than 60 million customers across six African countries, issuing around R127 billion in digital loans a year.

For Nedbank, the acquisition is its largest overseas investment to date and the centrepiece of its expansion beyond South Africa. The bank has long talked about building a pan-African platform, and control of NCBA gives it an established regional franchise overnight rather than a slow, branch-by-branch build.

The total value of the deal, about R13.9 billion, is roughly 1.4 times NCBA's book value, according to regulatory approval coverage. The offer valued NCBA at KSh105 per accepted share.

A consolidating East African market

The takeover is the latest in a series of cross-border banking deals in East Africa, as larger lenders seek scale across the region's markets. Kenya's banking sector has seen several regional acquisitions in recent years, with South African and Nigerian banks among the buyers looking for growth beyond their home markets.

For NCBA's customers, the immediate change is limited. The bank continues to operate under its own brand, with its existing management in place and its Nairobi listing intact. The longer-term question is how far Nedbank will integrate the Kenyan lender into its wider group, and whether the deal opens the way for further expansion in the region.

Settlement of the transaction began on 3 November, with cash payments and the issue of new Nedbank shares going to accepting shareholders from that date. The first full-year results under Nedbank ownership will be the next real test of whether the takeover delivers the growth the South African lender is paying for.