Somalia’s Premier Bank Limited acquired a majority stake in Kenya’s First Community Bank

Deal typeTransaction Services
IndustryFinancial Services
Client namePremier Bank Somalia Limted
Somalia’s Premier Bank Limited, a leading Islamic bank based in Mogadishu/Somalia, acquired a majority 62.5% stake in Kenya’s First Community Bank (FCB). This strategic transaction marked the first time a Somali commercial bank established a majority-owned subsidiary in Kenya, paving the way for FCB to operate under the Premier Bank brand.

The acquisition provided critical capital injections into FCB, addressing long-standing liquidity challenges that had plagued the Kenyan Shariah-compliant lender since 2018. 

In order to provide a sound investment decision, BDO East Africa Kenya was approached to undertake a financial and tax due diligence to assist Premier Bank in concluding the transaction.

The deal was completed from a blended persepective with significant part of the deposits being converted into equity and the remainder being paid by cash to ensure a majority shareholding for Premier Bank.