Access Bank, Africa’s new banking force, berths as largest retail bank

A new dawn and chapter begin today in the life of the enhanced, bigger and value-laden Access Bank Plc following the conclusion of its merger processes with Diamond Bank Plc.

The business combination journey between the two banks, which began on December 16, 2018, was finally consummated yesterday in Lagos when all the pre-requisite processes and activities were concluded, berthing Nigeria and Africa’s largest retail bank by customer size.

The new Access Bank Plc now has more than 29 million customers, 13 million of which are mobile customers. The bank has also become a continental force with presence in 12 countries, 3,100 ATMS and nearly 32, 000 Point of Sale (PoS). As a continental financial force, it is set to attract more opportunities such as trade finance from international partners seeking multinational lenders with local intelligence.

Herbert Wigwe, group chief executive officer of the bank, while offering explanation on the strategic merger arrangement at the onset of the deal, said the combination had been made possible by the complementarity of both the banks’ operations and the similarity of values that they shared. 

The huge entity will be taking synergy value from today with leadership in digital and mobile-led retail banking that analysts say is likely to accelerate Access’ banking strategy as a significant corporate and retail bank in Nigeria and a pan-African financial services champion.

“Access Bank has a strong financial profile with a robust capital of over 20 percent CAR (capital adequacy ratio) as at 30 September, 2018.

“We believe that this platform, together with the two banks’ focus and innovative financial inclusion and sustainability will bring benefits to the shareholders of Access and Diamond Banks,” he said.

The merger involved Access Bank acquiring the entire issued share capital of Diamond Bank in exchange for a combination of cash and shares in Access Bank via a Scheme of Merger.

Diamond Bank shareholders received N3.13 per share, comprising a cash consideration of N1.00 (one Naira) per Diamond Bank share, representing a total cash amount of N23,160,388,968 (twenty-three billion, one hundred and sixty million, three hundred and eighty-eight thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight Naira), or US$ 75,588,736.84 (seventy five million, five hundred and eighty eight thousand, seven hundred and thirty six dollars and eighty four cents).

Diamond Bank also received an allotment of 6,617,253,991 (six billion, six hundred and seventeen million two hundred and fifty-three thousand, nine hundred and ninety-one) new Access Bank ordinary shares, representing the two new Access Bank ordinary shares for every seven Diamond Bank shares.

During the course of the merger, Access Bank raised Tier 2 capital of $250 million (N90 billion) to strengthen its capital base. This was done to strengthen it in terms of capital to support an entity of that size.