Union Bank Goes to Titan as Owners Sign Deal to Divest
By Bashir Olanrewaju
Union Bank Plc, Nigeria’s second-oldest bank, is undergoing a change of ownership that will see Titan Trust Bank acquire a majority stake.
Titan Trust, led by Tunde Lemo, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has signed a share-purchase agreement with Union Global Partners Ltd to allow the three-year-old bank acquire 89.39 percent share of the 104-year-old lender, according to a filing to the Nigerian Exchange Group.
“Completion of the transaction is subject to obtaining applicable regulatory approvals and the fulfillment of certain conditions precedent,” said Somuyiwa Sonubi, the company secretary, in the filing posted on the website of the exchange.
Titan Trust, which started operations in October 2019, is Nigeria’s newest bank. Yet it touts “a strong capital” and a fond disposition to technological innovation among its strengths.
“The deal represents a unique opportunity to combine Union Bank’s longstanding and leading banking franchise with Titan Trust Bank’s innovation-led model, “ Lemo was quoted as saying in the statement.
Union Bank first set up in Nigeria as Barclays Bank in 1917. It was listed on the Nigerian stock exchange in 1971.