NIC Bank CEO John Gachora will be the CEO of the new outfit after the merger between NIC and CBA.
Making the announcement, the chairmen of both banks Desterio Oyatsi of CBA and James Ndegwa of NIC, they said he will become the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity. He will be responsible for the day to day management of the Group’s businesses.
His counterpart at CBA, Isaac Awuondo will become Chairman of the Kenyan banking subsidiary and maintain direct oversight over the Digital Business. In this role, they said they will continue to provide the day to day leadership of the Digital Business as they develop its long-term strategy.
In the statement, it was revealed that upon approval by the regulators, the listed NIC Group (which will be renamed) will be the merged Group’s non-operating holding company with subsidiary banks and other institutions in the countries where they operate. In Kenya, their operating commercial bank is intended to be the current CBA (which will also be renamed).
“In a reflection of the equal contribution both NIC Group and CBA bring, the merged Group will operate under a new name and brand, which will be determined prior to concluding the merger. The combined entity’s board of directors and executive management team will also be well balanced between the two institutions”, the statement further read.
Already an Integration Management Office has been set up and a detailed integration work plan developed and a comprehensive array of work streams have been set up and are working to get them ready for a successful day one.
The Merger Agreement has already been signed
The entity will be looking to better capitalize on their digital banking capabilities. “As we have noted previously, one of the key strengths of the combined entity will be its digital banking capability. To extract full value from this capability, we intend to create a distinct digital business with a separate board”, the statement said.
