NAIROBI, Jan 27 – Kenya’s competition regulator has approved KCB Group’s acquisition of control of Riverbank Solutions, clearing a deal the lender first disclosed in March 2025 as it seeks to deepen its payments and digital banking capabilities.
In a Gazette notice, the Competition Authority of Kenya said it authorised the transaction under a specific section of the Competition Act, subject to conditions on data protection and contractual obligations.
Under those conditions, KCB must ring fence all third party transactional, customer and merchant data processed through Riverbank’s platforms. The authority also stated that the bank cannot access or use that information beyond what is strictly necessary to operate Riverbank’s business. In addition, KCB and Riverbank must honour existing customer contracts on the agreed terms.
KCB has said it plans to acquire a 75% stake in Riverbank. Riverbank provides payments infrastructure including switching services, point of sale applications, card technologies and embedded device solutions, serving sectors such as banking, microfinance, retail, manufacturing and public institutions.
The Riverbank clearance was issued alongside other merger approvals in the same Gazette notice. The authority also approved Atlas Axilia Company’s acquisition of a 75% stake in Twiga Stationers and Printers, a manufacturer and distributor of stationery, hygiene and packaging products.
Twiga holds 49.4% of Kenya’s stationery market, ahead of Kartasi Industries at 18.2%.
Meanwhile, the authority approved the acquisition of sole control of Philips East Africa by GMED Holding, granting regulatory clearance for that transaction to proceed.
