Institutional investor Arise B.V. has acquired an additional 29 million shares currently worth Sh1.1 billion in Equity Group, cementing its position as the largest shareholder in the bank.
Arise had raised its ownership to 481.5 million shares or 12.76 percent as of December 2021, according to the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm’s latest annual report.
The institutional investor, which is backed by Rabobank and sovereign wealth funds FMO and Norfund, had previously maintained an 11.99 percent stake or 452.5 million shares which it acquired in 2017.
Arise acquired the initial shares from NorfinInvest AS, a subsidiary of Norfund which was restructuring its portfolio at the time.
Arise made the additional investment in Equity in a year when it sold a minority stake it held in Rwanda’s Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) to KCB Group.
Equity also owns a subsidiary in Rwanda which is ranked in the country’s top five institutions by assets.
Source: Business Daily
