JSE-listed lender, Nedbank, on Monday disclosed that its acquisition of a 36, 4 percent “initial stake” in Mozambique lender, Banco Unico, had been approved.

Nedbank, which also said it had been granted permission to increase the stake to achieve control over time, said the completion of the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

This acquisition will bolster Nedbank’s franchise in Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East Africa, increasing its presence to six countries in the region.

The lender said its African strategy involved its alliance with Ecobank in West and Central Africa and the expansion of its presence in East and Southern Africa.

In addition, Nedbank said it has the rights to take up a 20 percent shareholding in Ecobank and a formal decision regarding this will be made during the rights issue period sometime this year.

Nedbank, which was recently overtaken by South Africa’s low cost bank, Capitec, as the fourth biggest bank in the country, made these comments as it released results for the year ended December 2013.

During the period under review, the bank posted a 16 percent surge in headline earnings to R8.6 billion ($785m) and distributed a dividend per share of 19 percent for the period.

Mike Brown, Nedbank CEO, said the bank posted robust performance across all fronts, boosting returns on assets and equity during the period under review.