CEO and Nine Others Resign as Union Bank of Nigeria is Acquired by Titan Trust Bank

The CEO of Union Bank of Nigeria and nine other board members have resigned following the complete takeover by Titan Trust Bank. 

Besides Emeka Okonkwo, the now-former CEO of Union Bank, other directors that resigned are the Chairman and Non-Executive Director, Beatrice Hamza Bassey; and Independent Non-Executive Director, Mrs Obafunke Alade-Adeyefa.

Other Non-Executive Directors that resigned are Mr Kenroy Dowers; Paul Kokoricha; Mr Taimoor Labib; Mr Mark Patterson, Mr Richard Burrett, Mr Ian Clyne and Mr Emeka Ogbechie.

Of the board members, executive directors, Omolola Cardoso and Joseph Mbulund, and Aisha Abubakar, an independent non-executive director, were unaffected.

According to the board chairman of Union Bank, Beatrice Hamza Bassey, “As is normal for transactions such as this, the current board and CEO Mr Emeka Okonkwo retired and handed over reins of the Bank to a new Board and CEO”.

The acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria by Tropical General Investment (TGI) Group, the mother company of Titan Trust Bank, is a 93.4% ownership deal.

This was accomplished by buying shares from existing bank stakeholders, including the British Virgin Islands in Atlas Mara and Union Global Partners Limited. 

The new Chief Executive Officer and chairman of Union Bank of Nigeria

Mudassir Amray

He is a seasoned banker with 25 years of senior management experience and a demonstrated track record of flexibility in seven geographies (USA, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Pakistan).

Mudassir worked at Citibank New York before joining Titan Trust Bank. He has held prominent roles at Citibank and other international and domestic banks throughout his career.

He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Santo Tomas and a bachelor’s degree in commerce from National College, University of Karachi.

Farouk Gumel 

Farouk Gumel is TGI Group’s chief executive officer. Before joining the international investment and holding company, he was a partner at PWC. He was the head of the advisory and consultancy business for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Angola.

He graduated from the University of Northampton with a BSc in Materials Technology (Leather) and an MSc in Clean Technology from Newcastle University.

Farouk Gumel is a chartered accountant with the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Accountants and a fellow of the English and Welsh Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Titan Trust Bank 

Titan Trust Bank’s acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria is one of the biggest acquisition deals in the Nigerian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market.

With Union Bank’s assets rising to N2.6 trillion by the end of 2021 and Titan’s at N136 billion as of December 2020, the bank has paved the way for it to become Nigeria’s sixth-largest lender.

The takeover comes with its fair share of inherited challenges, such as the near-bankruptcy of the bank between 2008-2009 due to a massive volume of bad loans.

NEXT:

5 African Countries where Cannabis Business has been Legalised