Nairobi, Aug. 18 -- South Africa's Absa Group has failed in the bid to increase its stake in Absa Bank Kenya to as much as 85 percent through a tender offer worth about $238 million (Sh30.8 billion).

The group says it bought 189.38 million shares from the bank's minority shareholders from the 895.9 million the multinational lender had offered to purchase, representing a 21.1 percent subscription.

Absa, which held around 68.5 percent of Absa Bank Kenya, offered Sh34.50 per share to buy stocks from minority investors.

The transaction was expected to lift its stake by up to 16.5 percent, but it only managed to increase the ownership by 3.49 percent.

The share price surged at the Nairobi bourse in the wake of the deal announcement, narrow...