One of Nigeria’s fastest growing banks, Bank PHB, has acquired a 74% stake, worth US$23 million, in the Gambia-based International Bank for Commerce (IBC), the local media reported Monday.With the acquisition, Bank PHB beat another Nigerian bank, Skye Bank, to the deal, as the latter had offered US$20 million for a 100% stake in IBC.The acquisition is part of Bank PHB’s ”strategic regional and continental expansion programme, which remains a key part of its strategy aimed at providing widely acceptable products and services to international clients, engaging effectively in offshore banking and facilitating international trade flows with Nigeria”.The bank is also said to have engaged in serious negotiations to acquire another bank, First International Bank (FIB), based in seven West African countries, for US$120 million.Bank PHB has become the fourth Nigerian bank, after First International Bank (FIB), Guaranty Trust and Access Bank, to set up shop in the Gambia, said Panapress.
