3rd February, 2012
Following the completion of the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank Plc by Access Bank Plc, over 1, 500 employees of Intercontinental Bank has been sacked
Access Bank has also shut down some branches of Intercontinental Bank nationwide with only security personnel on standby to talk to customers.
The Head, Corporate Affairs Department, Access Bank, Mr. Austin Edoja, confirmed that some branches had been shut down, but declined to give further comment, saying, “We will issue a release on that later.”
Access Bank and Intercontinental are expected to fuse into one entity by March 2012, and the closure of some branches of Intercontinental Bank is seen by analysts as a step in that direction.
Already, Intercontinental Bank branches are being rebranded in Access Bank colours, in preparation for the completion of the merger process in March, which will leave Access Bank as the surviving entity.
According to a statement by Access Bank to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in December, Intercontinental Bank Plc will cease to exist by March 2012.
The statement said the merger of business would be effected through a Scheme of Merger pursuant to Part XII of the Investments and Securities Act (No 29) of 2007.
—Henry Ojelu