KCB Appoints Paul Russo as Designate Managing Director of NBK

Paul RussoKCB Group Director of Regional Businesses

After CBK gave a nod to the closure of KCB-NBK merger, KCB has subsequently picked Paul Russo as the designate Managing Director of NBK for the transitional 2-year period of its integration into KCB, subject to fit and proper approval by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

Mr. Russo who is the KCB Group Director of Regional Businesses will lead the transition team that will report to the KCB Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Joshua Oigara. Shareholders at NBK had taken up KCB’s share-swap offer which entailed a bargain of 10 NBK shares for every single one of KCB’s. As the share-swap window closed on Friday, KCB had already gathered the support of a majority 77.6 percent share stake or an equivalent 263 million shares of NBK.

“We are confident that we shall conclude this process shortly following the receipt of the necessary approvals. We have received a good indication from NBK shareholders and we shall announce the official results within the legally stipulated timelines so as to get into the next steps of the transaction.

“We have set a target to fully integrate NBK into KCB in 24 months from acquisition. During that period, we will be taking a number of integration decisions including how to best structure NBK in order to more excellently deliver value to our customers,” said Mr. Oigara adding that KCB Group has embarked on verification of the returns by the shareholders.

The acquisition is part of KCBs ongoing strategy to explore opportunities for new growth while investing in and maximizing the returns from the Groups existing businesses. It is anticipated that upon acquisition, NBK will continue to operate as a subsidiary of KCB Group for a maximum period of two years.

KCB seeks to create East Africa’s first Ksh.1 trillion valued bank in a quest for consolidation and regional expansion and is expected to disclose the offer results on September 13 ahead of the accreditation and listing of the transferred shares at the end of September.