Spire Bank, formerly known as Equatorial Commercial Bank (ECB), is a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, the largest economy in the

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, S ...

. It is licensed by the

Central Bank of Kenya The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) () is the monetary authority of Kenya. Its head office is located in Nairobi. CBK was founded by in 1966 after the dissolution of East African Currency Board (EACB). Dr. Kamau Thugge, CBS is the current Governor a ...

, the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

and national banking regulator.

Overview

The bank is a medium-sized financial institution in Kenya, serving corporate clients,

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizat ...

and individuals. , the bank's total assets were valued at about KSh.15.562 billion/= (US$180 million), with shareholders' equity valued at about KSh.1.371 billion/= (US$16 million). At that time, the bank was ranked number 27, by assets, out of 43 banks licensed in Kenya. The company has a 20% investment in ''Equatorial Investment Bank Limited'' and 23.86% in ''Fidelity Shield Insurance Company Limited'' which have been accounted for as associate companies in the consolidated financial statements.

History

Established as an Equatorial Finance Company in 1983, Due to change in regulation, Equatorial Finance Company was converted to Equatorial Commercial Bank Limited and commenced operations as a fully-fledged commercial bank in June 1995. In June 2010 Equatorial Commercial Bank merged with Southern Credit Banking Corporation, creating a new enlarged bank under the Equatorial Commercial Bank brand. The Merger was aimed at enabling the banks meet the

requirement for commercial banks shore up their core capital to at least KSh.1 billion/= (approximately US$12 million). The Equatorial Commercial Bank - Southern Credit Banking Corporation merger transaction was structured in the following four interlinked phases: # ECB implemented a KSh.264 million/= (approximately US$3.1million) rights issue to increase its authorised and issued share capital in order to meet the capital adequacy requirements of the merged bank. # By way of a share swap agreement, ECB acquired the full shareholding in SCBC, in exchange for its own shares thereby making SCBC a wholly owned subsidiary of ECB. SCBC shareholders received 11.25% of the issued share capital of ECB. # ECB (now the

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

) and SCBC (the

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

) then executed an asset and portfolio (business) agreement to transfer all of ECB's banking business, assets and liabilities to SCBC who paid a fair consideration through the creation of new shares. # SCBC (the subsidiary) adopted the name Equatorial Commercial Bank Limited and retained the joint banking business while the former ECB (the parent) returned its banking licence to the Central Bank of Kenya for cancellation and changed its name to Equatorial Holding Limited to become a non-operating holding company of the merged bank. All future subsidiaries and associate companies would be held by Equatorial Holding Limited. The merger transaction consideration was entirely satisfied by the issue of shares and there was no cash transaction. In September 2014, Mwalimu Cooperative Savings & Credit Society Limited, Kenya's largest

Sacco Sacco may refer to: * Sacco (clothing) (also Sakko), a type of jacket * Sacco (river), a river of central Italy * Sacco, Campania, a comune (municipality) in southern Italy * Sacco chair, by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, Franco Teodoro * Ospe ...

by assets, made a bid to acquire 51% shareholding in Equatorial Commercial Bank in a deal valued at KSh.1.7 billion/= (approximately US$18 million). This move was in line with the strategic objective of the society of expanding business opportunities. The acquisition, was to enable the Sacco to collect deposits from beyond its membership, access funds at lower rates, venture into trade finance and offer its members ATM services. The deal was concluded at the end of 2014 and in 2015, the Sacco acquired another 24 percent shareholding, bringing its ownership to 75 percent. In July 2016, the bank was rebranded to Spire Bank. In January 2023, the Central Bank of Kenya announced that

Equity Group Holdings Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL), formerly Equity Bank Group, is a financial services Bank holding company, holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. EGHL's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in Kenya, Uga ...

had acquired the business of Spire Bank. These were merged in to Equity Bank Kenya.

Ownership

Prior to December 2014, ,

Naushad Merali Naushad N. Merali, CBS (2 January 1951 – 3 July 2021) was the founder of the Kenyan mobile service provider Airtel Kenya, Kencell along with French media giant Vivendi.

Sameer Group The Sameer Group of Companies, commonly referred to as the Sameer Group, is a large conglomerate, based in Kenya, with operations and subsidiaries in neighboring African countries. Overview The group is involved in industries including: agricu ...

owned 85% of the bank's

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

, with other entities owning the remaining 15%. In order to comply with

directives, the bank began exploring ways to sell shares to outside investors and reduce the shareholding of the largest individual shareholder to 25% or less. The shareholding in the bank stock, as at March 2016, is depicted in the table below: In December 2020,

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya since 7 November 1994, by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' also circulates in the other countries of the African Grea ...

reported that Mwalimu Sacco had concluded the acquisition of the 25 percent shareholding in Spire Bank, that the Sacco did not previously own. The price that Mwalimu paid was not immediately disclosed.

Branch network

, the bank operates a network of branches at the following locations: # Waiyaki Way Branch - Equatorial Fidelity Centre, Waiyaki Way,

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

# Chester House Branch - Ground Floor, Chester House, Koinange Street,

# Westlands Branch - Ground Floor, Westlands Mall, Westlands,

# Hurlingham Branch - Priory Place, Argwings Kodhek Road,

# Mombasa Road Branch - Sameer Business Park, Mombasa Road,

# Industrial Area Branch - Avon Centre, Enterprise Road,

# Moi Avenue Branch - Equatorial Commercial Bank Building, Moi Avenue,

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

# Nyali Branch - Nyali Cinemax Complex, Kongowea Road, Nyali # Kisumu Branch - Harley’s House, Oginga Odinga Street,

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...

# Kakamega Branch - Jubilee Ironmongers Building, Canon Awori Road,

Kakamega Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579 (2019 census). The town has an urban population of 107,227 (2019 census). Kakamega ...

# Eldoret Branch - Zion Mall, Uganda Road,

Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...

# Nakuru Branch - Apple House, Nakuru-Nairobi Highway,

Nakuru Nakuru (nicknamed Nax) is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and it is the fourth largest city in Kenya and the largest in the Rift Valley region. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban population of 570, ...

References

External links