Fidelity Bank Plc has acquired 100 per cent equity in Union Bank UK, the United Kingdom subsidiary of the Union Bank of Nigeria.
This disclosed in a corporate notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday.
Fidelity Bank had in August 2022 announced the proposed acquisition of the UK bank.
According to the 2022 annual reports of Union Bank of Nigeria, the former owners of UBUK, the subsidiary had been sold for a cash consideration of N8.3bn, effective May 31, 2022.
In its latest update on the acquisition, Fidelity Bank said, “The bank is pleased to announce the completion of the transaction and receipt of the approval of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority for change of control of UBUK.
“The acquisition of UBUK is in furtherance of Fidelity Bank Plc’s strategic initiatives on international expansion.”
The bank had earlier received a letter of ‘No Objection’ to the transaction from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In the corporate notice, the Board of Directors of the bank said that they were “confident that the acquisition will unlock significant value for the Fidelity Bank Group and is taking action to ensure the seamless integration of the operations of both entities.”
In a related development, the shareholders of Fidelity Bank Plc will get an interim dividend of 25 Kobo per share, amounting to N8bn for the half-year financial period ended June 30, 2023.
In H1 2023, the lender grew its gross earnings by 59.6 per cent to N247.1bn; driven by 39.4 per cent growth in interest income and 207.2 per cent increase in non-interest income as shown in the audited financial report.
Also, the bank’s total deposits crossed the N3tn mark as customer deposits grew by 23.2 per cent year-to-date to N3.2tn from N2.6tn in 2022 financial year.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said, “We are pleased to report on another period of quality growth across all financial and non-financial indices.
“Our performance during the first half of the year reflects the resilience of our bank and the fundamental strength of our business to deliver long-term sustainable value at a time that has been characterised by global economic headwinds.
“As a bank, we remain committed to our goal of helping individuals to grow, inspiring businesses to thrive and empowering economies to prosper.”
Union Bank which has also been bought over by Titan Trust Bank said that divestment was to enable it to focus on its core banking business in Nigeria.
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