Access, Diamond bank on merger final lap

Access Bank and Diamond Bank says  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have given them the final approval to merger. The two financial institutions announced this in separate corporate disclosures issued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) over the weekend. “Access Bank Plc is pleased to announce that the bank has received the final approval of both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the proposed scheme of merger between the bank and Diamond Bank Plc,” read a statement by Access Bank.

“The scheme is subject to judicial sanction by the Federal High Court. We will provide further update to the market upon receipt of court sanction of the scheme.” It is understood that the corporate union between the two banks will kick off on Monday, April 1, 2019. The merger terms will see Diamond Bank transfer all its assets, liabilities and undertakings to Access Bank and the entire issued share capital of Diamond Bank shall be cancelled. The benefit for Diamond Bank is that its shareholders shall receive a cash consideration of N1 per share and two ordinary shares of the enlarged Access Bank for every seven ordinary shares of Diamond Bank held as at the effective date.