Access Bank and Diamond Bank will begin operation as one business on April 1, 2019, according to a statement signed today by the chief executives of the two banks.
The statement by chief executive officers of Diamond bank, Uzoma Dozie and his counterpart at Access bank, Herbert Wigwe, made available to eWorldNews said the decision to begin operation as one business follows the receipt of High Court permission and Security and Exchange Commission ( SEC) and CBN regulatory approvals.
The statement said the merger of the two banks will proceed as planned and “we expect to launch the new enlarged Access brand and officially start operating as one business as one on April 1”.
It said the banks’ team of brand experts have been busily working in the background and are making good progress to create a brand that is a fusion of Access Bank and Diamond Bank.
“This new brand will reflect the two banks’ shared purpose to help people achieve their dreams and, in so doing so, for Africa to take its place on the world stage.
The statement said they are looking to expanding Xclusive Plus and DiamondXtra to increase benefits and payouts and growing its branch network.
The two chief executives expressed delight that shareholders of both companies supported the merger and the approval puts the new company a step closer to becoming a bigger, better and stronger Access bank, one of the Africa’s largest banks by number of customers.
Shareholders of Access Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc who endorsed the proposed merger of both institutions at a court ordered meeting yesterday demanded that the Board of Directors should ensure that their value of investment is adequately maximised.
The shareholders who voted in support of the merger pulled 97.89 percent or 14,298,393,943 units of shares, while those against stood at 2.11 percent or 307,122,041 units shares. Some of the shareholders leaders that spoke at the meeting include Mr. Adebayo Adeleke of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Mrs. Bisi Bakare of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), and Muktar Muktar of Trusted Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria (TSAN).
