Burkinabe construction tycoon Mahamadou Bonkoungou’s IB Holding acquires state-owned BTCI

IB Holding, an investment holding controlled by Burkinabe construction tycoon Mahamadou Bonkoungou, has completed the acquisition of Togolese Bank for Commerce and Industry (BTCI).

The deal will see BTCI become International Business Bank Togo (IB Bank Togo). As such, it will operate under the management of IB Holding, the investment holding that Bonkoungou launched in June with an endowment of XOF30 billion ($51.7 million).

The acquisition, which marks the entrance of the construction mogul and EBOMAF owner into Togo’s commercial banking and financial services industry, will see his firm control a majority 90-percent stake in IB Holding, while the Togolese state will hold on to a 10-percent stake.

Bonkoungou will chair IB Holding’s board of directors, while Nabil Tahari, a manager at IB Bank (another subsidiary of IB Holding), will act as the managing director of the new entity.

The share-purchase agreement between BTCI and IB Holding was executed nearly a month after the WAEMU banking commission and other regulatory authorities approved the deal.

Togo’s Economy and Finance Ministry also authorized the change in the financial institution’s shareholding and corporate name, which will lead to the full-fledged transformation of BTCI into an IB Holding subsidiary.

In line with the purchase agreement and regulatory conditions given to the bank’s operator, IB Holding’s managers must finalize no later than this year two capital raise equivalents to XOF20 billion ($34.4 million).

The completed, the capital raise will bring the share capital of the new entity to XOF27 billion ($46.5 million), which is more than the regulatory requirements and will help to stabilize the group’s financial health.

Bonkoungou has also agreed to transfer no later than June 30, 2022 the holdings of its largest subsidiary, IB Burkina, to IB Holding, a financial company operating under Togolese law.

As a going concern, IB Holding will open up bank’s ownership to additional investors who can bring the necessary financial capacity to support its growth and expansion strategy.

Bonkoungou is the owner of EBOMAF S.A., one of the largest construction companies in Francophone Africa.