In this article on the list of banks that have merged in Nigeria, we will take a look at how many banks merged in Nigeria? How many banks are in existence after consolidation? Which bank merged with which bank? Which bank acquired Omega bank in Nigeria? When was bank consolidation in Nigeria?
There has been quite a number of bank mergers and acquisitions in Nigeria but the reform that took place between July 6, 2004, and December 31, 2005, under the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, was one that shook the nation.
Soludo shrunk 89 banks to 26!
The CBN governor that came after him, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, further did another round of consolidation that saw more banks either merging or acquired.
Some were even taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), a body created to stabilize, revitalize and revive the financial system by efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of the banks in the Nigerian economy.
The CBN had to revoke the licenses of Springbank, Afribank and Bank PHB and their assets and liabilities were transferred to the ‘bridge banks’.
Now let’s get the difference between a merger and an acquisition out of the way first before I continue.
Merger refers to the voluntary combination of two or more organizations into one larger organization which often results in a new organizational name. This is done either by combining the names of the original organization. Usually, the one that has the largest share of ownership gets to pick the new name.
On the other hand, Acquisition involves an outright purchase and total takeover of all the property (assets and liabilities) of the other institution.
The two terms are used interchangeably but then there is an obvious sharp difference between them.
List of merged banks in Nigeria
Access Bank Plc
Access bank merged with Marine Bank in 2005, merged with Intercontinental Bank in 2013 and merged with Diamond Bank in 2019.
Diamond Bank
Diamond bank before their merger with Access Bank had merged with two banks: Devcom bank and Lion bank.
Stanbic IBTC Bank
Before their merger, they used to be separately Stanbic (a normal bank) and IBTC bank (an investment bank and trust company).
United Bank of Africa (UBA)
One of UBA’s founders is Tony Elumelu. UBA merged with Continental Bank and Nigeria’s Standard Trust Bank.
Sterling Bank
Sterling bank merged with Trust Bank of Africa Plc, Magnum Trust Bank, NBM Bank, NAL Bank and Indo-Nigerian Bank.
Unity Bank
The nine banks that merged together to form Unity bank are Intercity Bank, First Interstate Bank Plc, Tropical Commercial Bank, Pacific Bank Limited, Centre Point Bank, Societe Bancaire, NNB International, Bank of the North and New Africa Bank.
First Bank Of Nigeria Plc
Banks First bank merged with are Intl bank, Mbc bank, Fsd bank
Polaris Bank
Polaris acquired Skye bank in 2018.
Skye Bank Plc
Before Polaris’ acquisition, Skye bank had merged with Prudent Bank, EIB International Bank, Bond Bank, Reliance Bank, and Co-operative Bank
First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
FCMB was formed by the merger of NAMBL, First City Bank, Cooperative Development bank and Finbank in 2012.
Fidelity Bank
Fidelity Bank is made up of FSB International and Manny Bank.
Union Bank Plc
Union bank is comprised of three banks which are Universal Trust bank, Broad Bank of Nigeria, Union Merchant bank
Spring Bank
Following CBN’s 2004 reform, Spring Bank was birthed from the merging of six Nigeria banks: ACB International bank plc, Citizen international bank, Fountain trust Bank plc, Omega bank plc, Trans International Bank plc., Guardian Express Bank plc.
Wema Bank
Wema bank merged with Lead Bank and National bank. Wema has a history of only this merger as far as public notice is concerned.
Oceanic Bank
Two strong banks gave rise to Oceanic Bank and they are International Trust bank and Ocean bank shortly after the 2005 reform by CBN.
First Inland Bank Plc
It was from the merger of 4 banks that First Inland bank plc developed. The banks are Inland bank, First Atlantic Bank Plc, NUB International Bank Ltd, IMB International Bank Plc.
Keystone Bank
Keystone is one of the AMCON banks that was used to acquire PHB bank.
Bank PHB
PHB bank was a merger of Habib Nigeria bank and Platinum bank limited.
Eco Bank
Eco bank came into being after Oceanic Bank, International Bank Plc, and International Trust Bank merged.
This article was updated 7 days ago
