Unity Bank (Nigeria) on the target of Bank of Africa (Morocco)

Bank of Africa, a consortium owned by moroccan BMCE Bank, has expressed it’s intention to acquiert the Nigerian Unity  Bank  PLC through a partenership  of a Lagos-based Verod Consortium and Development Partners International (DPI). The London based DPI who currently manages a US 400 million private investment fund and is in the process of raising a further US 500 millions, has indicated willingness to make a commitment of up to US 200 million in Unity Bank Plc. According to a nigerian newspapers,  Verod Capital Management has indicated interest of investing US 200 million in Unity Bank. According to the same revelations, Bank of Africa will take up a 50 percent stake in the nigerian bank. Unity Bank recorded 24 percent increase in its 2013 half-year pre-tax profit. This is coming on the heels of a 130 percent increase in Profit After Tax at the end of 2012, a year considered by financial analysts as relatively more favourable for financial sector operators than the subsisting one.Unity Bank’s gross earnings at the end of 2012 increased by 16 percent while total operating expenses declined by 8 percent; interest and similar income also grew by 30 percent, impacting positively on its cost-to-income ratio.