Etim Etim and Victor EzejaChairman of Titan Trust Bank, Mr Tunde Lemo has made further clarifications on the year-end acquisition of the 104-year-old Union Bank by the two-year-old Titan Trust Bank.
In a tersely worded message issued on Christmas Day, Lemo said that he is just a nominal shareholder of Titan Trust, but was made Board Chairman to provide leadership given his pedigree.
Titan’s Union Bank Acquisition A Rescue Or Inorganic Growth Mission?
Here’s the full text of his statement:
“Thank you very much for your messages of felicitation and congratulations on the proposed acquisition of UBN by my bank- Titan Trust Bank.
“I however need to make more clarifications on the ownership structure of Titan. The bank is 85% owned by Vinc Corporation- a foreign company. The local shareholders own the balance and shareholding is dispersed.
“My shareholding is therefore very tiny and insignificant. I am only providing leadership”.
How Tunde Lemo’s Titan Trust Bank Acquired 90% Union Bank Shares
Titan trust Bank is owned by the TGI’s parent company, Vinc Corporation which is a conglomerate of 24 companies, out of which Chi Limited that was recently sold to Coca Cola for $1bn, is the most popular.
They are in almost every sector of the economy from Agric to Pharmaceuticals, FMCG to Trading and others.
Titan, which started operations late 2018, was their first foray into the financial services sector. They have the ambition of becoming a tier 1 bank within a maximum of 7 years and therefore were always going to pursue inorganic growth.
The desire of the Private Equity Companies that owned UBN to sell matched their appetite and intention hence the deal.
Industry analysts believe that this is probably the first deal within the banking industry that is arising out of such alignment of objectives rather than out of a need to rescue the target bank.
Nigerians are waiting eagerly to see what they will do with the brand.
To achieve a Tier One growth in seven years, Titan will have to buy First Bank, and perhaps another Tier Two Bank like Fidelity Bank.
Etim Etim
ETIM ETIM is a journalist, banker and author. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of The Guardian, a Regional Manager in Access Bank and is currently a Columnist in Prime Business Africa, The Cable and Businessday newspapers.
He is also the Chief Executive of Stein Meyer Communications, a major media consultancy and the author of the best-selling book, "Akwa Ibom Heroes: Inside Story of the Fight for Abrogation of Onshore-Offshore Oil Dichotomy" and co-author of another book, "Osinbajo Strides: Defining Moments of an Innovative Leader".
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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