Standard Bank, South Africa and Africa’s largest banking group by assets has issued a statement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) advising investors of a large deal in the pipeline. In the statement the bank said “Standard Bank has entered into negotiations which if successfully concluded, may have a material effect on the price of the group’s ordinary shares”. It is expected the bank will throw more light on the negotiations on Thursday.

The secretive nature of the statement has fuelled speculation that either Standard Bank is being taken over or is set to make a major acquisition. Most Analysts think the latter is more likely and feel a major acquisition in Africa is on the cards.

Since the beginning of the year the Bank has concluded several major deals including the purchase of controlling shares in the Nigerian Bank IBTC Chartered Bank plc.

The Johannesburg based bank currently operates in 17 African countries and 21 other countries across the world.