United Mortgage Bank Limited says its plan to merge with Spring Mortgage Plc is already at an advanced stage and may be completed any time soon.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, UMBL, Mr. Walter Akpani, stated this at a ‘court-ordered meeting’ with shareholders in Lagos on Tuesday.

As soon as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission endorse the merger, the new entity will be called United Mortgage Bank Plc, according to him.

Akpani told the shareholders the merger would help the financial institution to meet the new capital requirement of the CBN.

The CBN had directed Primary Mortgage Institutions to have a minimum capital base of N2.5bn to operate within a state, or N5bn to operate as national institutions.

Highlighting some of the benefits of the merger, the UMBL boss said, “The Board of United Mortgage Limited and Spring Mortgage Plc have decided to pursue a merger because it will ensure that both firms meet the new capital requirement by the stipulated deadline.

“Both companies believe that a merger provides a compelling opportunity to also leverage the brands both firms have built while creating bigger firm that will be able to compete effectively within the PMI industry.”

A voting exercise conducted by the shareholders showed that majority of them supported the proposed merger.

Akpani subsequently thanked the shareholders and explained that the plan would be beneficial to customers, shareholders, employees and the mortgage sector at large.

“The merger will provide a stronger financial muscle to the post-merger United Mortgage in executing bigger mandates.

Punch