Trustco, a financial services firm listed on the Namibia (NSX) and Johannesburg (JSE) bourses, on Thursday said it had acquired 100 percent of Namibia’s lender, Fides Bank, for an undisclosed amount.

Trustco said it acquired Fides because the lender fitted its strategy and would set off the present student lending, mortgage lending and insurance businesses of Trustco.

“The student lending business is of sufficient economic size to anchor the Banks’ balance sheet,” Trustco said.

The deal needs to be first approved by competition authorities, including the Namibian Competition Board and Bank of Namibia.

Fides has five outlets in Namibia with its loan portfolio consisting of 14,000 group lending borrowers and 357 SME borrowers.

This move shows that the firm is set on growing aggressively through acquisitions.

In addition, the acquisition of Fides comes shortly after Trustco earlier this year acquired 100 percent of property developer, Elisenheim, for N$220 million ($20.1m).

At the time, Trustco said the acquisition of Elisenheim was in keeping with the firm’s wish to back Namibia’s property development plans of expanding accommodation in the country.

This acquisition is also part of the company’s strategy of helping address the country’s housing shortage while increasing the group’s earnings capacity.

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