Longstanding Franchise Blends With Innovation: Lemo Explains Titan Trust Bank’s 89.4% Stake Acquisition Of Union Bank
The Oasis Reporters
December 26, 2021
Titan Trust Bank Limited, led by Tunde Lemo, Central Bank of Nigeria’s former deputy governor, is buying 89.39 percent of Union Bank, both companies announced Thursday.
First, this is what Tunde Lemo had to say:
Dear all,
Thank you very much for your messages of felicitation and congratulations on the proposed acquisition of UBN by my bank- Titan Trust Bank.
I however need to make more clarifications on the ownership structure of Titan. The bank is 85% owned by Vinc Corporation- a foreign company. The local shareholders own the balance and shareholding is dispersed. My shareholding is therefore very tiny and insignificant. I am only providing leadership. Thank you once again and God bless”.
Another commentator had this to say:
Titan trust Bank is owned by the TGI’s parent company, Vinc Corporation which is a conglomerate of 24 companies, out of which Chi Limited that was recently sold to Coca Cola for $1bn, is the most popular.
They are in almost every sector of the economy from Agric to Pharma, FMCG to Trading etc”.
Titan, which started operations late 2018, was their first foray into the financial services sector. They have the ambition of becoming a Tier-1 bank within a maximum of 7 years and therefore were always going to pursue inorganic growth.
The desire of the Private Equity Companies that owned UBN to sell matched their appetite and intention hence the deal.
This is probably the first deal within the banking industry that is arising out of such alignment of objectives rather than out of a need to rescue the target bank.
What they will do with the brand remains to be seen”.
Read another comment:
“Vinc Corporation is an Indian company and some Indian companies in Nigeria are just fronts for some politicians and highly placed individuals”.
Titan Trust Bank Limited, which barely three years ago won the Central Bank’s permit to run within Nigeria, is acquiring 89.4 per cent stake in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
“Completion of the transaction is subject to obtaining applicable regulatory approvals and the fulfillment of certain conditions precedent,” Union Bank told Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in a note on Thursday.
The transaction will soften the ground for Titan Trust to hold the largest equity stake by a single investor in any of the country’s publicly quoted banks.
That implies only a limited portion of Union Bank’s shares will be readily available in the open market when the deal is delivered except a corporate resolution to sell down parts of the newly bought interest happens.
Shares in Union Bank gained 9.78 per cent in Lagos following the news, the biggest price increase by any stock of the 157 equities listed on the NGX.
Titan Trust has been operating in obscurity since inception, with a few branches, recording N2.9 billion in after-tax profit for 2020 compared to Union Bank’s N18.8 billion and an asset value of N136.3 billion, relative to the latter’s N2.2 trillion.
But the lender has positioned itself as a challenger with a heart for big things, making its takeover of better-known Union Bank obviously the biggest upset in Nigeria’s M&A scene so far in 2021 and potentially for the whole of the year.
Titan Trust Bank has an alliance with Citibank, headquartered in New York, which serves it as a correspondent bank.
To reflect the fresh change and for branding purposes, another name for Union Bank will most likely be adopted when the acquisition is perfected. Union Bank launched as Nigeria’s second oldest bank in 1917 when London-based Barclays Bank opened shop in Lagos.
“The deal represents a unique opportunity to combine Union Bank’s longstanding and leading banking franchise with TTB’s innovation-led model which promises to enhance the product and service offering for our combined valued customers,” said Tunde Lemo, Titan Trust’s chair.
Atlas Mara, a British Virgin Islands-based financial services group and Union Bank’s biggest shareholder, has since January been the subject of a series of exclusive Bloomberg reports on the plan to offload its 50 per cent holding in Union Bank.
Titan Trust will be purchasing the 89.4 percent slice from Union Global Partners Limited, its new majority shareholder according to the document, the seller having procured the shares from a pool of stakes previously held by different investors.
Commenting on the transaction, the chairperson of Union Bank, Beatrice Bassey, said: “On behalf of the Board, we congratulate all the parties involved in reaching this phase of the transaction and the Board looks forward to supporting the next steps to ensure a seamless completion of the process following regulatory approvals. We are grateful to our current investors whose significant and consequential investments over the past nine years facilitated the transformation of Union Bank, one of Nigeria’s oldest and storied institutions. Today, the Bank is well-positioned with an innovative product offering, a growing customer base of over six million and consistent year on year profitability. This is a solid foundation for our incoming investors to build on as we move into a new era for the Bank”.
The chairperson of Titan Trust Bank, Tunde Lemo, said: “The Board of Titan Trust Bank and our key stakeholders are delighted as this transaction marks a key step for Titan Trust in its strategic growth journey and propels the institution to the next level in the Nigerian banking sector. The deal represents a unique opportunity to combine Union Bank’s longstanding and leading banking franchise with TTB’s innovation-led model which promises to enhance the product and service offering for our combined valued customers”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, Emeka Okonkwo, said: “This transaction marks a significant milestone in the journey of our 104-year old Bank. Whilst thanking our current investors for their unwavering commitment to the Bank over the years, we welcome our new core investor, TTB. We recognize the strategic fit between the two institutions and expect that this deal will deliver the best outcome for our employees, customers and stakeholders. We look forward to collectively writing the next exciting chapter for Union Bank”.
Also the Chief Executive Officer of Titan Trust Bank, Mudassir Amray, said: “After completing over two years of operations with aggressive organic growth, we are excited to have an opportunity for a significant leap forward in market share. UBN’s widespread presence, state of the art technology platform, quality staff and strong brand loyalty fits well with our synchronized modular strategy. We look forward to delivering superior results for the benefit of our staff, customers, shareholders, and stakeholders”.
Sources: Premium Times
Internet sources
NGX
