KCB Group has entered into an agreement to acquire a minority stake in payment service provider, Pesapal.
“We are delighted to inform our shareholders and the investing public that KCB Group has on 31st October 2025, entered into an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Pesapal Limited,” read the announcement from KCB Group published in the local dailies.
Pesapal, which has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia serving over 8,000 merchants, provides a simple, safe and secure way for businesses to accept payments through point of sale terminals and online payments.
The company also offers payment solutions to individuals allowing them to pay bills, buy airtime and shop online.
Pesapal, which was founded by Agosta Liko in 2009, first got traction in 2010 after completing 156 transactions after the company landed a job with Access Kenya to design a platform to sell online tickets.
In 2011, Pesapal signed the first merchant, Rupu, an E-commerce company that offered small and medium businesses a platform to market their goods and services. Two months later, the company signed Zuku, who played a critical role in the growth of Pesapal.
Pesapal founder, Agosta Liko, recalled in a podcast:
“Zuku opened doors for Pesapal. It helped us build a whole team, processes, settlement, and risk. They made it easy to get into a new country and make a setup”
This is KCB Group’s second acquisition in the payments provider space, coming after it acquired a majority stake in Riverbank Solutions in March this year.
KCB Group CEO, Paul Russo, said after acquiring a majority stake in Riverbank solutions:
“Across the region, payments are expected to have the fastest growth, suggesting an opportunity to innovate.”
Over the past decade, KCB Group has undertaken several acquisitions, reflecting its strategy to expand and diversify its operations.
In 2019, KCB Group acquired National Bank of Kenya, which it sold to Access Bank this year in a deal valued at about Sh13.2 billion.
In 2020, it acquired the businesses of Atlas Mara in Tanzania and Rwanda, a deal that saw it acquire Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) and African Banking Corporation Tanzania (BancABC).
In 2022, it acquired 85 per cent stake in Trust Merchant Bank, a deal that saw KB Group enter Democratic Republic of Congo.
In March this year, KCB Group acquired 75 per cent stake in Riverbank Solutions, in a deal estimated to be worth around Sh2 billion
Earlier this year, KCB Group initiated talks to acquire 40 per cent stake in an Ethiopian bank.
