Zenith Bank, GTBank May Acquire Other Banks

By Dipo Olowookere

The duo of Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) have expressed the possibility of expanding their operations through the acquisition of other financial institutions.

It is an open secret that the two banks, which are among the top five tier-one lenders in the country, run a policy of growing organically unlike one of its peers, which has expanded its operations by swallowing smaller financial institutions.

Addressing analysts from Lagos few days ago, the new Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said the bank will not hesitate to acquire any available lender that falls in line with its (Zenith Bank) vision.

“In terms of acquisition, we will continue to grow organically, but if we find anything attractive in the market, that is in line with our strategic imperative, we will look at it.

“But we will not go out inordinately to seek for acquisition, but if we find something that is quite attractive and really fits the kind of profile of the investment that we do, we will consider [it].” Mr Onyeagwu said at the conference call, which Business Post was also part of.

Speaking further, the Zenith Bank chief said, “On the opportunity to acquire any of the retail lender; first is that we will continue to grow organically, that is our primary goal. If we find anything that is strategically relevant and would add reasonable value to us, we will look at it.

“We will not just do acquisition for the sake of doing it, we will do it [because] there is money to be made, there is incremental value, not for cosmetic reasons.”

Commenting on whether Zenith Bank wants to remain the largest bank in the country, the respected banker said, “There is a pecking order where we stand and we want to defend that. That is the legacy passed on to us by our leader.”

“It can’t be that under this exco team led by me, that we will lower the standard, no. The whole essence is to project and maintain our leading position in the market; no matter the condition or situation, we will do everything possible to maintain our prime position,” Mr Onyeagwu declared.

Earlier, in its conference call, GTBank said it was also considering expanding its operations in the banking space, however, outside Nigeria if the right deal comes its way.

Addressing analysts from its based in Lagos, the GMD of GTBank, Mr Segun Agbaje, said his bank will not rush into acquiring any lender for the sake of it.

“In terms of growing strategy, I am trying to be very careful because a lot of these things are strategic and require approvals I can’t make alone.

“We will start to look at other things, probably outside of what you are seeing us do now, some of it might be to look at making acquisitions outside of Nigeria so that we can [spread] to certain region.

“But I think it would be wrong for me to say at this point that we will not consider other option of growing [inorganically] because as a bank, we would continue to grow. We would broaden our options,” he said at the analyst call last week, which also had Business Post in attendance.