Diamond Bank market cap soars to N26.4bn after acquisition

The stock market has remained happy with the decision of Diamond Bank to merge or be acquired by Access Bank as share price continues to rise, TOPNAIJA.NG can confirm.

Diamond Bank shares have gained over nine percent in value every day after news broke about its acquisition by Access Bank on Sunday night.

On Monday, the bank gained 9kobo per share to close at N1.04 at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, less than 24 hours after the deal was announced.

The case was no different on Tuesday when the bank gained 10kobo to close at N1.14 per share at the Nigerian bourse.

The bank’s share price, which hit an all-year low of 0.61 kobo per unit on November 30, closed at 0.95kobo on Friday — before the deal went public.

The bank’s market capitalisation has risen by over N4bn to N26.4 billion as at the close of business on Tuesday.

Access Bank, which also gained over nine percent increase in share price on Monday, however, shed 5.52 percent of its market value on Tuesday, to close at N7.70 per share on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) were informed about the details of the acquisition.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approved of the merger on Tuesday, stating that it had “no objection” to the  “proposed merger with the Diamond Bank Plc”.