In December 2024, Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank by assets, offered to acquireSouth Africa’s Bidvest Bank for R2.8 billion ($159 million). If the deal had gone through, it would have allowed the lender to scale through South Africa’s tight regulations and enter the country’s growing retail and corporate banking sector.
But the only thing the deal did was hit a wall: Yesterday, the bank’s parent company confirmed that the transaction was terminated because key conditions (mostly regulatory) were not met by the January 26, 2026, deadline. In a filing with the Nigerian Exchange, Access Holdings noted that its interest in South Africa hasn’t changed, even as this deal has.
Why did it actually fall through? Neither side is saying exactly which approvals failed, and that silence is telling. Cross-border bank deals require sign-off from multiple regulators, including central banks, prudential authorities, and competition regulators in both countries. Access says the issue was timing and complexity, suggesting that approvals didn’t land before the deadline.
What happens to Bidvest now? Bidvest Group says it is relaunching the disposal process, meaning it is back on the market. The failed Access deal is treated as closed, and Bidvest will now restart the process of finding a new buyer, who, this time, would need better regulatory timing to close the deal.
