Fidelity Bank Set to Expand Operations, Seals Pact to Buy Union Bank UK

As part of effort to expand its operations outside the country, Fidelity Bank is set to acquire 100 per cent equity stake of Union Bank UK, the United Kingdom unit of Nigeria’s Union Bank.

The Bank disclosed that the central bank has issued a letter of no objection for the binding agreement for the acquisition.

In a statement it said  “Union Bank UK commences operations from the heart of the city of London in 1983 to provide competitive banking services including personal banking, trades finance, treasury management and structured trade and community finance which offers to individual and corporate clients.”

The deal allows SME-focused Fidelity Bank, which holds an international banking permit but has never operated outside its base Nigeria, inroad into the UK market where, in 1983, Union Bank first set foot to provide personal banking, treasury management, and structured trade and commodity finance services.

“The diverse service bouquet and business model of Union Bank UK offered a compelling synergy, and we hope to build on the existing capacity to create a scalable and more sustaining service franchise that will support the wider ecosystem of our trade businesses and diaspora banking services,” said Fidelity Bank’s chief, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe.

Union Bank of Nigeria itself came to life in 1917 in Lagos with Britain’s Barclays Bank as its precursor. Last year, it offload 90 per cent of its shareholding to a new owner, Titan Trust.