First Bank of Nigeria’s (FBN) recent acquisition of Ghana’s International Commercial Bank (ICB) has been approved by the Bank of Ghana (BOG).According to a statement released by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the takeover will include ICB’s subsidiaries in Gambia, Guinea, Senegal and Sierra-Leone, and would require FBN to make available about 40 percent of the shares to Ghanaians through the Ghana Stock Exchange, as part of its terms of condition.
In which case, the Nigerian bank is to release at least 25 percent of the shares latest by Dec. 31 next year.
The ICB is part of a group comprising a network of 12 banks spread through Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.
According to analysts, the acquisition would birth one of the biggest SME- friendly banks in Ghana.
