Atlas Mara Limited Acquires Finance Bank Zambia Limited

Atlas Mara Limited ("Atlas Mara" or the "Company"), the sub-Sahara African financial services group, is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of 100% of Finance Bank Zambia Limited and its subsidiaries ("FBZ").  Consideration for FBZ will be settled by approximately $61 million in cash and 3.3 million Atlas Mara shares, not including deferred contingent consideration of up to 1.3 million Atlas Mara shares. 

FBZ will be combined with Atlas Mara's Zambian subsidiary, African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited ("BancABC Zambia"), with pro forma combined assets as at December 31 2015 of approximately $567 million. The acquisition will position the merged bank as one of the largest banks in terms of branch footprint in Zambia with the physical presence increasing from 23 branches to 65 branches, a total of 176 ATMs and 23 agencies.

John F. Vitalo, CEO of Atlas Mara said:

"The acquisition of FBZ is another important step in the execution of Atlas Mara's strategy to build sub-Saharan Africa's premier financial institution, in part, by becoming a scale participant in our countries of operation, which this transaction will achieve for us in Zambia.  We are enthusiastic about Zambia's long-term prospects and our ability to play a leading role in the development of financial services in the country.  While there is much to be done to fully implement our operational integration plans, we are excited about the opportunity afforded by a larger footprint in this important market for us".