Deals
Nigeria's Access Bank to Buy Struggling Carlyle-Backed Rival
- $200 million Diamond deal to create biggest Nigerian lender
- Carlyle Group acquired almost 20 percent of Diamond in 2014
This article is for subscribers only.
Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc agreed to take over struggling local rival Diamond Bank Plc in a deal worth about $200 million that would create the nation’s biggest lender by assets. Both companies’ shares rose.
Access will buy Diamond for 72.5 billion naira ($199 million), with almost a third of that being paid for in cash and the rest in shares, the Lagos-based lenders said in statements to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday. The offer price of 3.13 naira per share is more than triple Diamond’s previous closing price.