I&M Holdings Ltd. paid 819.9 million Kenyan shillings to acquire a further 15.35% stake in Tanzanian unit I&M Bank (T) Ltd., as part of its goal to become an East African regional bank, Business Daily Africa reported, citing the Kenyan company's annual report.

I&M Holdings raised its stake to 70.38% from 55.03% during the second half of 2016 by purchasing shares from French fund Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique SA, or Proparco, the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement.

I&M Bank (T) also carried out a rights issue during the second half of 2016, raising 10.91 billion Tanzanian shillings and boosting its Tier 1 ratio to 13.90% from 11.22%, I&M Holdings said in the annual report.

As of May 29, US$1 was equivalent to 103.35 Kenyan shillings and 2,237.00 Tanzanian shillings.