The Vista Group acquires the BNP Paribas subsidiary in Burkina Faso

The Vista group (“Vista”) announces, on June 22, the acquisition of the majority stake of BNP Paribas in the capital of the International Bank for Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Burkina (BICIAB). This acquisition expands Vista’s bank network in Guinea, Sierra-Leone and The Gambia.

Afreximbank assisted Vista in structuring the financing of this strategic acquisition, thereby filling the void created by the withdrawal of international banks from the African continent. The support provided by Afreximbank will also enable the new Vista Bank Burkina to provide extensive services to increase business opportunities and investments in the region.

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Astura has acted as lead legal counsel to the Vista group in collaboration with the following counsel: Perkins Coie LLP on American law aspects, Semega Chambers and Sollie Law Chambers (Gambia) on Gambian law aspects, Yada Williams & Associates on Sierra Leonean law aspects, Thiam & Associés (Guinea) and Bile-Aka Brizoua-Bi & Associes (Ivory Coast) on OHADA law aspects.

Deloitte France and Africa acted respectively as advisers to the Vista group on the financial and strategic due diligence  aspects as  well as on the regulatory and tax aspects of the transaction. Mr. Mohamed Ba, former corporate officer of the BNP group in Mali, has been appointed as Managing Director of Vista Bank Burkina.

Simon Tiemtore, Chairman of Vista Group and Lilium Capital (photo) said that the transaction is an important step in Vista’s growth strategy. “The appointment of Mohamed Ba allows us to benefit from his expertise in the banking sector. The acquisition of BICIAB allows us to establish ourselves in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) – a springboard for our future expansion! The acquisition of BICIAB also allows us to benefit from their excellent portfolio of high net worth clients and large renowned companies, which is in addition to our current offering, which is more focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and banking. detail. We now have the scale necessary to implement our commercial strategy, geared towards digital technology and intra-African trade, in West Africa. Driven by this dynamic, we will be able to take advantage of the immense benefits that the imminent establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area will bring. ” 

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The Vista group is resolutely turned towards its customers and invests continuously to carry out its digital strategy. This acquisition expands Vista’s branch network in Burkina Faso, which already had 22 branches in Guinea, 9 branches in The Gambia and 19 branches in Sierra Leone. Once integrated, BICIAB customers will benefit from Vista’s core banking system as well as leading digital and mobile banking products, services, features and solutions. In addition, Vista customers will benefit from its very customer-centric approach and technology investments.

Source: Financial Afrik