Nairobi, March 29 -- Mwalimu National Sacco paid Equity Group Sh400 million as part of the deal that saw it hand over the undercapitalised Spire Bank to the country's largest bank.

The figure, a drop from the earlier estimate of Sh500 million, was based on the actual value of loans and deposits that were passed to Equity by midnight of January 31 when the changeover concluded.

Equity's executive director Mary Wamae said the bank took over deposits amounting to Sh1.3 billion and loans valued at Sh900 million, necessitating the Sh400 million top-up in the unique transaction.

The deposits were in the hands of about 20,000 customers while the loans were spread out in about 3,000 accounts, all passed to Equity.

"The bank received in cash t...