Absa Group - History

History

Absa was founded in 1991 through the merger of various financial service providers such as the United, Allied, the Volkskas Groups as well as the Sage Group. The following year, Absa acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group which included Trustbank, Senbank and Bankfin, thereby extending its asset base further. In the early years of this union, each bank operated under its own name. It wasn’t until 1998 that they all fused into one single brand. A year later, Absa adopted a new corporate identity and the name was changed into Absa Group Limited.

In May 2005 Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom purchased 56.4% stake in Absa as part of its drive to expand its global product and international retail and commercial banking businesses to untapped markets outside the UK. This transaction was Barclay’s largest foreign direct investment in South Africa, and its largest investment outside the UK. In early 2007 the Barclays Bank acquisition of Absa came under criticism from then governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni who said he "had yet to see the benefits of Barclays' management of Absa".