Farmers Review Africa Sept/Oct 2018 FRA - September - October 2018 digital 5 | Page 5

NEWS
GROCAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED
ACQUIRES BANK OF ATHENS
G
roCapital Holdings Limited is
pleased to announce that it has
obtained all regulatory approvals
for the acquisition of the South African
Bank of Athens Limited (SABA). This
follows an announcement made in
March 2017 that GroCapital Holdings
had acquired the National Bank of
Greece Group’s stake in the South
African Bank of Athens, corresponding
to 99.81% of the issued share capital
of the bank.
The Minister of Finance and the
Registrar of Banks have approved the
acquisition and GroCapital Holdings
as a bank controlling company.
The Competition Tribunal has also
approved the acquisition.
GroCapital Holdings shareholders will
include AFGRI Group Holdings, Fairfax
Africa Holdings Corporation (Fairfax
Africa) and the Government Employee
Pension Fund, represented by the
Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
In AGH, Fairfax Africa and the PIC,
[SABA / the Bank] will benefit from
a committed and stable shareholder
base with proven track records in the
financial sector.
Chris Venter, CEO AGH said that the
move marks a substantial milestone
for the AFGRI Group, providing the
company with the opportunity to
expand their financial services product
offering, including the acceptance of
deposits and cross-border financial
settlements and flows, while
simultaneously gaining access to
SABA’s expertise in alliance, business
and international banking. He added
that the banking license will deepen
the Group’s reach in the financial
services, agribusiness and foods
sectors in South Africa. “Financial
services are a key enabler for these
sectors and will help businesses grow
and so drive food security,” said Venter.
Venter went on to say that by
leveraging services across the
combined customer base of both
entities, synergies could easily be
extracted, and an entire banking
bouquet would be on offer.
SABA would benefit equally from
opportunities to grow forex and
commodity trade and finance activities
in the agricultural sector.
“The Group brings decades of
experience in agriculture and foods,
coupled with a deep understanding of
agricultural cycles. Our bad debts are
negligible, and this is testament to our
appreciation of these cycles,” he went
on to add.
In Fairfax Africa and the PIC, SABA
will benefit from a substantial and
stable shareholder base with a proven
track records in the financial services
sector. GroCapital Financial Services
(“GroCapital”) focuses on corporates
involved in agriculture and food
production, offering debt origination,
forex and commodity trading,
specialized finance and broking
services, while UNIGRO focuses
an array of financial and insurance
products and services to the farmer.
“The PIC is pleased with this
transaction. It is a transaction that is
in line with our investment mandate
given by our client, the GEPF. This
transaction fits well with our financial
services strategy, which seeks to
drive transformation in the agricultural
finance sector.
SABA’s extensive experience in the
financial sector is a perfect vehicle to
assist us in realizing this strategy. We
believe that provision of funding in
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