Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) – one of the
nine lenders bailed out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in
2009 – has been acquired by Sterling Bank.
ETB was one of four Nigerian lenders – the
others being Afribank, Spring Bank and Bank PHB – ordered by the
CBN to find a merging partners, having failed to attract sufficient
capital to remain independent.
At the start of August, Afribank, Spring
Bank and Bank PHB ran out of time; the lenders were liquidated and
have since been rebranded as Mainstreet Bank, Enterprise Bank and
Keystone Bank, respectively.
The newly merged Sterling/ETB will result
in a lender with deposits of over NGN360bn ($2.3bn), assets of
NGN550bn and a branch network of around 185 outlets.
The Sterling/ETB merger is the fifth such
deal in Nigeria in the past month.
Other deals include:
- First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has
agreed a deal with the CBN to acquire Finbank. The newly enlarged
FCMB will have a branch network of around 300 outlets once it
acquires Finbank’s 168 branch network; - The late July deal for the 300-branch
bailed-out Intercontinental Bank to merge with the
110-branch-strong Access Bank; - Ecobank ‘s deal to acquire the failed
Oceanic Bank; the latter has a branch network of 376 outlets. A
combination of Ecobank Nigeria and Oceanic Bank will form a top 5
Nigerian lender, and - Union Bank of Nigeria successfully raised
fresh capital, around $750m, from private equity firm African
Capital Alliance.
