Ecobank Transnational Incoporated and Oceanic Bank International Plc have announced the completion of the recapitalisation of Oceanic Bank and the acquisition of 100 per cent interest in Oceanic Bank by ETI.

The two banks during an official signing ceremony of Oceanic Bank’s takeover on Monday stated that all change control processes pertaining to the merger had been completed at the ceremony.

In a related development, it was gathered after the meeting that a new board had been appointed with the Group Chief Executive Officer of ETI, Mr. Arnold Ekpe, appointed as the chairman of Oceanic Bank.It was also gathered that the Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Mr. John Aboh, was retained as the managing director of the bank till further notice.

Ekpe in his remarks at the ceremony said the bank would be merged with Ecobank Nigeria Plc before the end of the year.

“The first stage as you know is the acquisition by ETI, of 100 per cent of Oceanic Bank. We expect that before the end of the year, Oceanic Bank will be merged with Ecobank Nigeria. In terms of customers’ accounts, we expect that customers of both banks should have access to their accounts in any of the two banks’ branches within the next three months,” he said.

He added that Oceanic Bank would retain its brand name for now, adding that the board of ETI would consult with the management of Oceanic Bank before taking any decision on the bank.

Ekpe said, “I can assure you that we are not changing the name of Oceanic Bank immediately. I have had extensive discussions with top board members of the bank. Oceanic is a very strong brand in Nigeria and we recognise that, so I don’t think you would see us changing the name in a hurry. However, in the medium to long term, we would have to combine to become one entity.

“Obviously, there would be some changes, but we are going to make any changes in full consultation with the board and management of Oceanic Bank. We have experience in mergers and acquisition over the years. We have done 12 over the past five years and in each case, the regulators, employees and shareholders have been very pleased with the manner in which we did them. Speaking at the ceremony, Aboh told Oceanic Bank’s workers not to worry over the development.

Source: Punch/Ademola Alawiye