Attijariwafa Bank Eyes Acquisition of Nigeria’s 8th Largest Bank

Attijariwafa Bank is one of the banks that would have contacted Atlas Mara to buy its majority stake in the capital of Union Bank of Nigeria, the eighth largest bank in this country by asset volume, reports Bloomberg. The Atlas Mara Holding has not, for the time being, confirmed or denied this information.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the Atlas Mara Holding has been experiencing some turbulence for a few months. It had even announced on April 19 an agreement concerning its subsidiary Bank ABC in Botswana. The latter had allowed the Nigerian Access Bank to acquire its 78.15% stake.

For their part, the managers of Union Bank of Nigeria had formally denied on January 25, 2021 the information according to which they would have been approached for a sale of shares. However, they confirm having recruited the Rothschild & Co group to accompany them in the strategic review of their African portfolio.

According to Capital IQ data, the market value of UBN on the Lagos stock exchange is currently only $415 million for assets of around $5.6 billion. With attractive prospects, with a return on equity of 10% at the end of 2020, it can interest certain banks including Attijariwafa Bank. The latter is also eyeing the English-speaking markets in Africa.