Diamond Bank Plc has signed a preliminary agreement to sell its United Kingdom (UK)’s banking operations, Diamond Bank UK, in another major divestiture aimed at narrowing down the commercial bank’s operations to its domestic Nigerian market.

In a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, Diamond Bank stated that it has signed a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement with a member of GFG Alliance, for the disposal of its entire shareholding in Diamond Bank UK. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulatory Authority – the regulators responsible for banking in the UK.

The bank stated that the disposal was in line with its “objective of streamlining its operations to focus resources on the significant opportunities in the Nigerian retail banking market”. The latest transaction follows the bank’s divestment from its West African business, Diamond Bank S.A., which was completed in November 2017. Diamond Bank SA’s operations covered Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.

“The Bank and GFG Alliance are committed to, and are pursuing a quick completion of the transaction subject to approval of the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority who regulate banking business in the United Kingdom,” Diamond Bank stated.

By focusing exclusively on Nigeria, Diamond Bank is seeking to capitalize on the vast growth opportunities presented by Africa’s largest economy. This includes macro fundamentals such as Nigerian’s changing lifestyle preferences in favour of mobile delivered services and an emerging culture of innovation and tech-enabled entrepreneurship.

Diamond Bank will have no remaining international subsidiaries after the divestment from Diamond Bank UK, leaving it to focus solely on Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie said Diamond Bank’s strategic objective is to be the fastest growing, and most profitable technology driven retail banking franchise in Nigeria.

He said the bank’s strategic intent requires it to optimize resources by divesting from non-core assets, and focusing exclusively on the Nigeria’s highly attractive market.

“The commercial opportunities for Diamond Bank in Nigeria are vast, due to its positive fundamentals including millions of people who are either underbanked or unbanked, high mobile phone penetration and the continent’s largest economy,” Dozie said.

According to him, Diamond Bank has already laid the foundation for growth in Nigeria with acquisition of over 15 million customers, many of whom are owning bank accounts for the first time. Through its technology-led approach, Diamond Bank is also fully aligned to most Nigerian’s digital first ethos, whilst also having a framework for scaling up quickly, efficiently and cost effectively.

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