Zimbabwe's FBC Holdings acquires Standard Chartered Bank's business portfolio

Zimbabwe's FBC Holdings Limited and Standard Chartered Bank have reached an agreement for the acquisition of the latter's business portfolio in the country, subject to regulatory approval by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The deal, which will reshape the country's banking landscape, was announced today by FBC group chair John Mushayavanhu and Standard Bank Plc (Africa & Middle East) chief executive Sunil Kaushal at bank headquarters in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

The London-headquartered bank announced on 14 April last year  that it was exiting from Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Jordan, Lebanon and Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered plc also said it would cut back on its operations in Tanzania and Ivory Coast to just the corporate, commercial and institutional banking functions.