Fidelity Bank Plc yesterday said it has entered a binding agreement to acquire 100% stake of Union Bank UK, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had issued a “No Objection” letter for the transaction.
This was contained in a corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) signed by the Company Secretary, Ezinwa Unuigboje, who added that the deal is still subject to the approval of the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) of the United Kingdom.
Speaking g on the development, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said the move will help the bank to expand its services beyond the Nigerian market.
She said: “This transaction aligns with our strategic plan of expanding our service touch points beyond the Nigerian market and providing straight-through services that meet and exceed the needs of our growing clients.
“The diverse service bouquet and business model of Union Bank UK offered a compelling synergy, and we hope to build on the existing capacity to create a scalable and more sustaining service franchise that will support the wider ecosystem of our trade businesses and diaspora banking services.”
Union Bank, Nigeria’s second oldest lender, has run the London operations for 39 years, another strand in its latest divestment.
On June 2, the Bank announced that it had completed its core investors’ sale of a majority shareholding to Titan Trust Bank Limited, which acquired 90% of its shareholding.
Fidelity Bank holds an international banking permit but has never operated outside its base in Nigeria.
The transaction puts the bank on track to attaining a tier-1 status by 2025, by which time it hopes to have joined that elite league of Nigeria’s five biggest banks by assets -sometimes called FUGAZ – First Bank, Union Bank, Guaranty, Access and Zenith, after their initials.
…we hope to build on the existing capacity to create a scalable and more sustaining service franchise that will support the wider ecosystem of our trade businesses and diaspora banking services.
