Idrissa Nassa's Coris Holding raises its stake in Cape Verde's biggest bank to 62.25%

Coris Holding, the West African banking group founded by Burkinabe billionaire Idrissa Nassa, has increased its stake in Banco Comercial do Atlântico to 62.25 percent following the completion of a mandatory public acquisition offer on the Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde, the country's stock exchange, results of which were published on June 12, 2026.

The mandatory offer, which ran from May 21 to June 4, 2026, was launched by Coris Holding in compliance with Cape Verde's capital markets regulations following its January 2026 acquisition of a 59.81 percent stake from Portugal's state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos. Under Cape Verde's rules, any acquirer of a controlling stake in a listed company must extend a public offer to remaining minority shareholders at a fair price.

The offer targeted 532,413 shares representing 40.19 percent of BCA's total share capital, at a price of 14,918 Cape Verdean escudos per share, equivalent to approximately €135. In total, 20 acceptance orders were received from shareholders, covering 32,300 shares, which represents 6.07 percent of the shares subject to the offer. Settlement of the transaction was completed on June 5.

As a result of the partial take-up, Coris Holding's stake in BCA rose from 59.81 percent to 62.25 percent. A total of 500,113 shares remain outside Coris Holding's ownership, held by 672 individual and institutional shareholders representing 17.25 percent of BCA's capital. Other significant shareholders include the National Social Security Institute of Cape Verde, known as INPS, which holds 12.54 percent, and Garantia insurance company, part of Portugal's Fidelidade group, which holds 5.79 percent.

Júlia da Cruz, president of the Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde, described the offer process as having gone very well, noting the 20 orders received during the subscription period. She expressed the hope that the transaction would contribute to the strengthening of BCA and to the development of the Cape Verdean economy, and specifically highlighted the expectation that Coris would drive modernisation, efficiency and competitiveness at the bank, with particular focus on digital services and direct support to micro, small and medium enterprises.

BCA board chairman Gilberto Barros described the outcome as a demonstration of market confidence. "This is for us a mark of confidence in the market, a greater sense of responsibility for the bank to continue serving the economy and further financing companies, but also the state and the structural projects of the economy," he said.

Coris Holding completed the initial acquisition of BCA on January 15, 2026, in Praia, following approval from both the Portuguese Council of Ministers and the Banco de Cabo Verde, the island nation's central bank. The deal marked Coris Holding's entry into Cape Verde, its 11th African country of operation and its first Atlantic island market, chosen in part for its strong financial and commercial ties to Europe.

Idrissa Nassa founded Coris Bank International in Burkina Faso in 2008 with initial capital of approximately $3 million. The group has since grown into one of West Africa's largest banking institutions with assets exceeding $9 billion, operating across Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Mali, Guinea, Chad, Niger, Guinea-Bissau and now Cape Verde. The expansion has been driven by a strategy of acquiring distressed or divesting international bank operations, including Standard Chartered's retail business in Côte d'Ivoire in 2023 and Société Générale's units in Chad and Mauritania in 2024.