Access Bank Plc was the most active stock and the third highest gainer yesterday at the Nigerian equities market as investors sought to lock in into the first tier commercial bank, which consummated its merger with Diamond Bank Plc on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had on Wednesday placed full suspension on Diamond Bank, after the Federal High Court sealed the merger between Access Bank and Diamond Bank on Tuesday. This makes Access Bank, the post-merger entity, the only available vehicle for investors to benefit from the expected synergies from the merger.
Investors rushed in buy orders for Access Bank and turn the stock into a seller’s market in the five-hour trading session yesterday, pushing up the share price and the momentum of activities.
Access Bank was the toast of the investing public with a turnover of 93.47 million shares valued at N638.54 million, representing about 37.4 per cent of total turnover volume yesterday. With more demand than supply, its share price rose by 40 kobo or 6.15 per cent to close at N6.90 per share.
Under the terms of the merger, Diamond Bank will transfer all its assets, liabilities and undertakings to Access Bank and the entire issued share capital of Diamond Bank shall be cancelled and Diamond Bank shall be dissolved without being wound up. In exchange, Diamond Bank’s shareholders shall receive a cash consideration of N1 per share and two ordinary shares of the enlarged Access Bank for every seven ordinary shares of Diamond Bank held as at the effective date.
Access Bank will be the post-merger entity while its Group Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe will continue to lead the post-merger management as chief executive. The business combination is expected to leapfrog post-merger Access Bank as Nigeria’s largest bank by total assets and one of Africa’s largest retail banks.
Meanwhile, share price depreciation suffered by many large-cap stocks dragged the overall market situation to its fourth consecutive negative closing. While there were more gainers than losers, losses suffered by influential stocks such as Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Seplat Petroleum Development Company overshadowed the overall market position.
The benchmark index at the NSE, the All Share Index (ASI), declined by 0.50 per cent to close at 30,885.31 points as against its opening index of 31,040.84 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NSE dropped by N58 billion from its opening value of N11.576 trillion to close […]
