Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo

As of December 2021, EquityBCDC had total assets of US$3.7 billion, with over 1,300,000 bank accounts. In the calendar year ended 31 December 2021, the bank realized an after-tax profit of US$40.2 million and paid tax amounting to US$9.4 million to the DRC government.

EBC was a commercial bank in the DRC. As of May 2015, it was the seventh largest commercial bank in the country, with assets exceeding US$200 million and shareholders' equity of US$25 million. At that time, its customer base exceeded 170,000.{{cite web| newspaper=Business Daily Africa | url=http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Equity-buys-79pc-stake-in-DR-Congo-ProCredit-Bank/-/539550/2730184/-/10d5ed8/-/index.html |title=Equity Buys 79 Percent Stake In DR Congo’s ProCredit Bank |date=26 May 2015 |

author=BDAfrica Reporter |access-date=26 May 2015 | location=Nairobi}}

According to 2015 tax filings by Equity Group Holdings Limited, Procredit Bank had an asset base of about US$228.4 million, a loan book of about US$132.67 million, customer deposits of about US$185.5 million, and shareholder's equity valued at US$29 million at the time it was acquired by EGHL. Procredit made an after-tax profit valued at US$5.525 million in calendar year 2015.{{cite web|access-date=30 March 2016 |

date=30 March 2016 |last=Ngigi |first=George |location=Nairobi

|url=http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Equity-says-it-paid-Sh4-5bn-for-Congo-bank-acquisition/-/539552/3139906/-/item/0/-/w7gv2y/-/index.html |title=Equity says it paid Sh4.5 Billion for Congo bank acquisition |newspaper=Business Daily Africa}} (Note: US$1.00 = KSh100.3, on 30 March 2016.)

As of August 2018, Equity Bank Congo was reported to be the most profitable subsidiary in the Equity Bank Group, during the first six months of calendar year 2018.{{cite web| url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/equity-DRC-branch-becomes-most-profitable-subsidiary/539546-4723116-yu9n6q/index.html |title=Equity Bank’s DRC branch becomes most profitable subsidiary |access-date=22 August 2018 |date=21 August 2018 |newspaper=Business Daily Africa |first=Constant | last=Munda |location=Nairobi}}

Before May 2015, three corporate entities jointly owned 79 percent of Procredit's stock: Procredit Bank, the German Investment Corporation, and Stichting DOEN. The remaining 21 percent was held by KfW (12 percent) and the International Finance Corporation (9 percent).

On 26 May 2015, Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL) of Kenya, a large financial services conglomerate announced that it had agreed to pay US$60 million for 79 percent shareholding in Procredit Bank.{{cite web | url=http://equitybankgroup.com/index.php/investor-relations/financial-results |title=Equity Bank Group Financial Statement As At 30th September 2014 |access-date=26 May 2015 | date=October 2014 |author=Equity Group Holdings Limited | publisher=Equity Group Holdings Limited}} EGHL has a customer base exceeding 9.2 million in the five East African countries it serves, making it the largest commercial bank on the African continent by customer numbers.{{cite web |title=Kenya's Mobile Innovation Brings Digital Money Closer |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-28142515 |first=Zoe |last=Flood |publisher=BBC News | date=3 July 2014 |access-date=26 May 2015}} The deal was concluded following regulatory approval by Kenyan and Congolese authorities, which was obtained in September 2015.{{cite web| newspaper=Business Daily Africa |date=26 May 2016 | url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/equity-runs-ahead-of-rivals-with-takeover-of-drc-bank-2088116 | title=Equity runs ahead of rivals with takeover of DRC bank | access-date=1 January 2021 |location=Nairobi}}

{{main|Banque Commerciale du Congo}}

The origins of BCDC go back to the establishment in 1909 of the Banque du Congo Belge. Prior to the merger with EBC, BCDC was the second largest bank in the DRC, as measured by balance sheet and shareholders equity. On 9 September 2019, Equity Bank Group, announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in BCDC.{{cite web| url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/companies/Equity-to-expand-in-DRC-with-acquisition/4003102-5266016-156xurf/index.html |title=Equity to expand in DRC with acquisition of second-largest bank |newspaper=Business Daily Africa |date=9 September 2019 |author=Adonijah Ndege |

access-date=1 January 2021 |location=Nairobi}}

In September 2019, Equity Bank Group began talks to acquire a controlling stake in Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC), the second-largest commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If and when the transaction is concluded, the new acquisition is expected to be merged with the existing Equity Bank Congo.{{cite web| url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/markets/marketnews/Equity-tipped-to-spend-Sh17bn-in-DRC-bank-deal/3815534-5269500-7t79atz/index.html |newspaper=Business Daily Africa |

title=Equity tipped to spend Sh17bn in DRC bank deal |date=11 September 2019 |author=Patrick Alushula |access-date=15 September 2019 |place=Nairobi}}

In November 2019, Business Daily Africa reported that Equity Bank Group had agreed to pay US$106 million (KSh10.7 billion) to the George Arthur Forrest Group, in exchange of 66.5 percent ownership in BCDC. In addition, Equity Group Holdings was contemporaneously in negotiations with KfW, to acquire an extra 7.6 percent stake in Equity Bank Congo.{{cite web|date=19 November 2019 | url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/Equity-to-pay-family-Sh10bn-for-DRC-bank/539546-5353784-11exe4nz/index.html | title=Equity to pay family Sh10bn for DRC bank |access-date=19 November 2019 |newspaper=Business Daily Africa |author=Edwin Okoth |place=Nairobi}} All these acquisitions are subject to regulatory and shareholder approval from Kenya, DR Congo and COMESA.{{cite web |title=Kenya’s Equity Bank to acquire Congolese lender at $105 million |date=19 November 2019 |url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Equity-bank-acquisition-DR-Congo-bank/2560-5354506-pbpwpg/index.html | newspaper=The EastAfrican |access-date=19 November 2019 | author=James Anyanzwa |place=Nairobi}}

As of 16 November 2020, Kenyan print media reported that Equity Bank Group had completed the acquisition of 66.53 percent shareholding in BCDC, after paying US$95 million in August 2020. As of then, the merger between BCDC and Equity Bank Congo was ongoing.{{cite web| title=Equity Group books Sh907m gain on DRC bank buyout | date=16 November 2020 | url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/equity-group-books-sh907m-drc-bank-buyout-3021870 |access-date=16 November 2020 |newspaper=Business Daily Africa |place=Nairobi |author=Patrick Alushula}}

On 27 November 2020, Equity Group Holdings acquired a 7.7 percent stake in Equity Bank Congo SA from KfW for $9million, raising its shareholder ownership to 94.3 percent.{{cite news |title=Equity buys German fund’s Sh996m Congo bank stake |url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/equity-german-fund-s-sh996m-congo-bank-stake-3402878 | first=Victor | last=Juma | website=Business Daily|date=16 May 2021 |access-date=18 September 2024 |language=en}}

{{as of |November 2021}}, the shareholding in Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo, is as illustrated in the table below:{{cite web| work=Business Daily Africa | url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/equity-bank-signals-plan-buy-stake-local-rival-3607078 | title=Equity Bank signals plan to buy stake in local rival | date=4 November 2021 |author=Elizabeth Kivuva |access-date=4 November 2021 |location=Nairobi, Kenya}}

As of May 2015, PBD maintained 15 networked service branches. At that time, EGHL planned to increase the branch list to 30.{{cite web|access-date=27 March 2015 |date=26 May 2015 |url=http://www.nation.co.ke/business/Equity-buys-Sh6-billion-stake-in-German-bank-to-enter-the-DRC/-/996/2730442/-/wil7if/-/index.html |title=Equity Buys KSh6 Billion Stake In German Bank To Enter The DRC |newspaper=Daily Nation |first=Joshua |last=Masinde |location=Nairobi}} As of August 2018, the bank's branch list had increased to 41. This number further increased to 74 branches as of December 2020.{{cite web | url=https://equitygroupholdings.com/equity-bank-congo-and-banque-commerciale-du-congo-bcdc-receive-regulatory-approval-for-merger/

|title=Equity Bank Congo And Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC) Receive Regulatory Approval For Merger: The New Merged Bank, EquiyBCDC is the Second Largest Bank in Democratic Republic of Congo with a Balance Sheet of USD 2.5Billion |work=Equity Group Holdings |date=30 December 2020 |author=Equity Group Holdings | access-date=17 October 2022 |location=Nairobi, Kenya}} As of May 2022, EquityBCDC maintained 74 brick and mortar branches and over 7,400 banking agents throughout the country.{{cite web| work=Equity Group Holdings | url=https://equitygroupholdings.com/cd/en/newsroom/press-release/one-year-after-the-merger-equitybcdc-s-results-show-exponential-growth/ |title=One year after the merger, EquityBCDC's results show exponential growth |date=18 May 2022 |author=Equity Group Holdings |access-date=17 October 2022 |location=Nairobi, Kenya}}

In July 2018, nearly three years since the acquisition by EGHL, Procredit Bank re-branded to Equity Bank Congo, to reflect the prevailing shareholding.{{cite web | url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/markets/marketnews/Equity-rebrands-Congo-subsidiary/3815534-4671910-u38273/index.html | title=Equity rebrands Congo subsidiary three years after acquisition |access-date=20 July 2018 |date=19 July 2018 |

newspaper=Business Daily Africa |first=Brian |last=Ngugi | location=Nairobi}} In December 2020, following the issuance of approval from DRC government regulators, EGHL began the process of merging EBC and BCDC to form EquityBCDC.{{cite web| publisher=98.4 Capital FM | url=https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2020/12/equity-bank-congo-and-banque-commerciale-du-congo-bcdc-receive-regulatory-approval-for-merger/ |title=Equity Bank Congo And Banque Commerciale Du Congo (BCDC) Receive Regulatory Approval For Merger |date=31 December 2020 |author=Julie Owino |access-date=1 January 2021 |location=Nairobi}}

On 30 December 2020, Equity Group Holdings received regulatory approval from the DRC to merge Equity Bank Congo (EBC) and Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC) to form a new bank EquityBCDC.

As of December 2020, according to The EastAfrican, EquityBCDC had total assets in excess of US$2.5 billion and a total of 74 bank branches. At that time its customer base was nearly one million clients.{{cite web| date=6 January 2021 | url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/equity-gets-approval-to-merge-drc-subsidiaries-into-new-bank-branches-3247368 |title=Equity Gets Approval To Merge DRC Subsidiaries Into New Bank Branches |newspaper=The EastAfrican |access-date=7 January 2021 |author=The EastAfrican |location=Nairobi}}

In February 2021, the bank announced its new identity following the merger into EquityBCDC, with a balance sheet of $2.7 billion and a financial lending ability of up to $40 million to a single customer. As of May 2021, according to Business Daily Africa, the merged bank EquityBCDC was the second-largest in DRC, with an asset base of $3 billion (Ksh322 billion). Equity Group Holdings Limited held a 77.5 percent share and the remainder was held by IFC (International Finance Corporation), the government of DRC and other minority shareholders.{{cite web |url=https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/equity-german-fund-s-sh996m-congo-bank-stake-3402878 |title=Equity buys German fund's Sh996m Congo bank stake |date=17 May 2021 |work=Business Daily Africa |author=Victor Juma |access-date=9 August 2022 |location=Nairobi, Kenya}}

• List of banks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

{{reflist}}

• [https://equitybank.cd/ Official webpage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231131513/https://equitybank.cd/ |date=31 December 2020 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{Equity Group Holdings Limited |state=collapsed}}

Category:Banks of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Category:Banks established in 2020

Category:Companies based in Kinshasa

Category:2020 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo