Arise gets 55% of Dfcu to become major shareholder

What you need to know:

  • Dfcu Limited top shareholders (Current share price; Shs760)
    Arise B.V – 273.8 m shares – 55% - Shs208bn
  • CDC Group – 74.58m shares – 15% - Shs59bn
  • NSSF – 29.4m shares – 5.93% - Shs23.2bn
    Kimberlite Fund – 18.6m shares – 3.76% – Shs14.7bn
  • Others – 47.9m shares – 20.3% - Shs37.8bn
  • Dfcu total market value – Shs377.8bn.

Kampala – Three months after acquiring some of the assets and liabilities of Crane Bank (CBL), Dfcu Limited now has a new majority shareholder, Arise B.V. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dfcu Limited announced that NorFinance and Rabo Development had transferred their shares to Arise B.V, a fund with its headquarters in the Netherlands.

NorFinance and Rabo Development held an equal 27.5 per cent stake in Dfcu Limited, which wholly owns Dfcu Bank. Going at the current share price of Shs760, the value of the 55 per cent stake in Dfcu is valued at Shs208bn. The approval for the transaction came through this week after approval from the regulators. The shares were transferred through a private transfer arrangement, which according to the Uganda Securities Exchange rules is a transaction that does not “involve monetary consideration effected through the exchange.”
Rabo Development from the Netherlands and NorFinance from Norway are shareholders in Arise B.V together with Norfund, a Norwegian government owned Private Equity firm and FMO, the Dutch Development Bank.

“Arise is committed to partnering with local financial service providers in Africa to strengthen and develop effective, inclusive financial systems to advance economic growth. Our aim is to work in collaboration with banks like Dfcu to build strong and stable institutions that will serve retail, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the rural sector, and clients who have not previously had access to financial services,” said Mr Deepak Malik the CEO Arise told Daily Monitor in an email response.
Arise was officially launched in February 2017 and has invested in 10 banks across Africa. It is currently managing assets valued at $660m (about Shs2.3trillion) in Africa where they target local financial service providers. In a statement, Dfcu limited said the entry of Arise would strengthen the local financial sector.