British financial firm, Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited (SAHL) has announced plans to buy 15 percent stake in Stanbic Bank headquartered in Johannesburg.

The lender which has operations in Kenya has a presence in  12 countries and is also listed in Namibia, Malawi Kenya and Uganda through subsidiaries.

The bank will purchase ordinary shares for Sh95 where the firm’s shares are currently trading at an average of Sh83 at Wednesday's close.

It will acquire up to an additional 59 million ordinary shares in Stanbic holdings plc for Sh5.61 billion.

The Bank will, however, buy a claim to the Sh4 dividend issued by the bank in the closure of books recently tabled by management.

The Stanbic group announced a final dividend of Sh4.00 per share, adding up to a total dividend of Sh5.25

SAHL currently holds the controlling stake of 60 percent of the South African firm and the acquisition will make it 75 percent owner.

The bank has however said they will not issue a takeover bid which means they will remain in the securities exchange markets.