Diamond Bank denies merger, acquisition talks with Access, others

Nigeria’s tier 2 commercial lender, Diamond bank Plc Monday
debunked the purported talks of an ongoing plan for its acquisition
by Access bank Plc.

Diamond bank in a statement signed by its Company secretary and
legal adviser, Uzoma Uja, stated that the bank is not discussing
with any institution for merger or acquisition.

“We wish to state categorically that the Bank is not in
discussions with any financial institution at the moment on any
form of merger or acquisition” the bank said.

“We trust that the above clarifies the position of the Bank with
regards to the rumor on the various media platforms” the bank
further said.

The statement is a swift response of the rumours making the
rounds that Access Bank is set to add Diamond Bank’s portfolio to
its assets in the next few months.

According to reports form a Nigerian daily newspaper, talks on
the acquisition are on, according to its sources, who said the
fusion is set for the first quarter of next year.

“It was gathered that both financial institutions have reached
an agreement in broad terms on the acquisition. What is left is the
valuation of assets, with a view to determining the level of
compensation and systems’ integration, the sources said, pleading
not to be named because they are not allowed to talk to the media
on the matter.

The newspaper claimed that the development leading to the
impending acquisition was triggered by Diamond Bank directors who
approached Access Bank for intervention in a bid to stave off a
possible regulatory intervention that could lead to the withdrawal
of the lender’s operating licence in the light of the bank’s
depleting capital adequacy ratio on account of a huge Non
Performing Loans (NPLs) portfolio put at over N150billion” the
newspaper firm reported.