Vista Bank Group (‘Vista’) has closed the deal to acquire BNP Paribas’ majority interest in La Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie de la Guinée (BICIGUI) in Guinea. 

The acquisition adds to Vista’s existing banking operations in Guinea, in addition to its banks in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. BICIGUI is being rebranded as VISTAGUI.  

Afreximbank advised and structured the financing of this transaction, which helps to fill the gap created by the exit of international banks from the continent. In addition to enabling Vista to fill this gap, Afreximbank's support will also enhance the capacity of VISTAGUI to provide expanded services that will stimulate trade and develop investment opportunities in Guinea. 

Deloitte and Astura handled the financial due diligence and legal aspects of the deal respectively. The local law firm Thiam & Associes (Guinea) also worked with Astura Perkins Coie LLP on aspects of U.S. law, Semega Chambers and Sollie Law Chambers (Gambia) on aspects of Gambian law, Yada Williams & Associates on aspects of Sierra Leonean law, Thiam & Associates and Bile-Aka Brizoua-Bi & Associates (Côte d'Ivoire) on aspects of OHADA law. 

Martial Goeh-Akue, formerly at Orabank has been appointed as the Director General of VISTAGUI. 

Simon Tiemtore, Chairman of Vista Group, said: “The integration of BICIGUI with Vista’s existing bank in Guinea, which are combining into VISTAGUI, instantly make Vista the largest bank in Guinea in terms of both total assets and number of branches. Under Martial Goeh-Akue’s leadership, VISTAGUI is ideally positioned to meet the needs of its customer portfolio of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), mass retail sectors, high net worth and large blue-chip corporate customer segments. Following our additional acquisition of BICIAB in Burkina Faso, the Vista Group can now further leverage on its scale, digital and intra-African trade strategies and cement its position as a world-class pan-African financial inclusion promoting financial inclusion, fostering Africa’s economic development.” 

Following the integration, VISTAGUI’s customers will benefit from Vista’s customer-centric focus, ongoing investments in technology, core banking system, state of the art digital and mobile banking products, services, functionality and solutions.