Nigeria's Access, Intercon banks sign merger deal

Nigeria's Access Bank and Intercontinental Bank said on Monday they had signed a merger agreement, paving the way for Intercontinental to recapitalise ahead of a central bank deadline.

Intercontinental was one of nine lenders rescued in a $4 billion bailout by the central bank in 2009. The regulator has given the rescued banks a September deadline to recapitalise or face effective nationalisation or liquidation.

Access and Intercontinental announced their intention to combine their operations in March but gave no details.

"Both parties have now entered into legally binding terms for the proposed combination," the banks said in a joint statement, which said the deal was subject to shareholder, regulatory and judicial approval.

The terms were not disclosed.

Three other rescued lenders -- Union Bank, Afribank and Finbank -- have also signed memorandums of understanding with private equity firms and local peers as part of efforts to recapitalise. Reuters