Investors in NCBA Group have taken an 8.37 percent stake in Nedbank Group as part of their compensation for selling a combined 66 percent interest in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed lender to the South African firm.
NCBA owners received most of their payment in the form of Nedbank shares, with a smaller portion in cash.
“Implementation of the transaction resulted in the issue of 43,631,052 new Nedbank Group shares to NCBA shareholders who have accepted the offer and are entitled to receive the Nedbank Group Shares, bringing the total number of Nedbank Group Shares in issue to 520,903,680,” the South African multinational said in a trading update.
The NCBA investors, most of whom retain a minority shareholding in the Kenyan bank, are now among the significant shareholders of Nedbank.
The top owner in Nedbank is South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) which held a 14.8 percent stake as of January 30, 2026.
It was followed by Allan Gray Asset Management at 9.5 percent and BlackRock (5.4 percent). These investors are among those who have been diluted by the entry of the NCBA shareholders.
The families of Jomo Kenyatta and Philip Ndegwa lead the group of NCBA owners who have been allotted shares in Nedbank, diversifying their fortunes and giving them exposure to the multinational’s more expansive operations.
Besides the Nedbank shares, the NCBA investors also received cash payments amounting to Sh23.2 billion to complete the cash-and-stock deal.
Nedbank bought the NCBA stake under a hybrid compensation plan in which 80 percent of the consideration was made via a share swap, and 20 percent in cash. The stock option was done at a conversion rate of 4.02994 shares for every 100 NCBA shares.
The Nedbank shares were priced at 250 Rand (Sh1,928.50) using the deal’s exchange rate, while the cash option was priced at up to Sh105 per NCBA share.
Completion of the deal puts Nedbank in control of NCBA’s strategy going forward, including expansion, earnings retention and dividend payout rates.
The South African firm, for instance, earlier said it will help NCBA grow its corporate banking business using its larger balance sheet.
NCBA will maintain its NSE listing where 34 percent of its shares held by minority investors will be available for trading.
NCBA shareholders will have the option of either holding onto the Nedbank stock for dividends and future capital gains, or they can sell up immediately and book the gains that have accrued since January.
Nedbank’s stock hit 300 Rand on Thursday. The multinational managed to achieve its target of a 66 percent stake or 1.087 billion shares in NCBA, handing it control of Kenya’s fifth largest bank by assets.
NCBA now joins other Kenyan banks that are controlled by foreign parent firms including Absa Bank Kenya, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya and Stanbic Holdings.
These banks have benefitted from the strength of their parent firms with which they can team up to fund large-scale projects. The multinationals have also provided loans to their local subsidiaries, helping them to meet their capital requirements and grow their loan book.
Because of the support of their majority owners, the local subsidiaries have typically paid out more of their profits as dividends compared to the independent homegrown institutions such as Equity Group.
