Heritage Banks’ integration agenda underway

INDICATIONS may have emerged that Heritage Bank would soon unveil the grand plan to integrate its operations with that of Enterprise Bank, a move that has been projected to transform the lender into one of Nigeria’s formidable banking institutions.

  Speaking at the Board Divestment Closure ceremony organised by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in Lagos, the Managing Director of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, thanked the Central Bank of Nigeria, AMCON, Securities and Exchange Commission and former management of the bridge banks for making the process of the divestment transparent.

  He said AMCON’s divestment closure signals final disengagement of the corporation from Enterprise Bank and now an added impetus to roll out a more robust plan that would affirm its commitment to the promise of creating and preserving wealth across generations through highly personalized banking service.

 “We promise to make the bank more successful. We will create more value and improve on what has been done at Enterprise Bank. One year from now, all stakeholders will see reasons to appreciate the sale of the bank to Heritage Bank”, Sekibo said.

  The outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Bank, Ahmed Kuru, expressed happiness over Heritage Bank’s emergence as the preferred bidder for the bridge bank.

 Kuru said with Heritage Bank’s takeover of Enterprise Bank, “the level of damage will be minimized compared to AMCON’s shares in the bank being acquired by a larger bank.”

  The Chairman, AMCON, Alhaji Kola Belgore, noted that the bridged banks had been restored to financial solvency, stating that Mainstreet Bank’s profit at the end of December 2014 stood at N13 billion while Enterprise Bank recorded a profit of N3 billion.

  The Managing Director, AMCON, Mustafa Chike-Obi, said the corporation’s divestment from the bridge banks was in line with the CBN’s regulation to leave banks in the hands of the public.