The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission have approved the merger of Access Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc, the last major regulatory hurdle for the consummation of the business combination.
With the final approval of the scheme, the banks will now submit the scheme of merger to the FHC for its judicial sanction, which seals the merger. Access Bank will be the post-merger entity with its Group Managing Director Herbert Wigwe continuing to lead the post-merger management as chief executive. The business combination is expected to leapfrog post-merger Access Bank as Nigeria’s largest bank by total assets and one of Africa’s largest retail banks.
The combination is expected to form a leading Tier 1 Nigerian bank and the largest bank in Africa by number of customers, spanning three continents, 12 countries, 3,100 Automated Teller Machine , more than 33,000 Point of Sales terminals, 27 million clients and more than 10 million mobile customers.