Access Holdings Plc has said its banking subsidiary, Access Bank Plc, will continue talks with regulators and other stakeholders in a bid to salvage its proposed acquisition of South Africa’s Bidvest Bank, after failing to complete the deal before a key deadline.
The missed timeline represents a blow to Access Bank’s push deeper into Southern Africa, though the lender has insisted it remains committed to the South African market and is exploring possible routes to revive the transaction.
“We remain constructively engaged with stakeholders on this transaction towards finding a potential path to closure,” said Roosevelt Ogbonna, the managing director of Access Bank.
The bank confirmed that the long-stop date for the acquisition expired on 26 January 2026, with several conditions still outstanding. These included regulatory approvals and other requirements that prevented the deal from being finalised.
The proposed takeover was first disclosed to the Nigerian Exchange Limited on 12 December 2024, but ran into delays as the process moved through multiple jurisdictions.
In a statement, Access Holdings described the setback as a reflection of the “complexities and extended timelines associated with multi-jurisdictional regulatory and transactional processes”, stressing that the missed deadline did not indicate any retreat from its South African ambitions.
Ogbonna said the outcome had not weakened the group’s confidence in South Africa’s financial sector.
“This initial outcome does not diminish our confidence in South Africa’s financial ecosystem,” he said. “We remain focused on building Africa’s most respected financial institution, strengthening our trade finance capabilities and delivering long-term value to customers, partners and communities across all our markets.”
He also thanked the board and management of Bidvest Bank for what he described as their patience and support during the transaction process.
