Indication emerged weekend that three Nigerian banks and three from South Africa are bidding for the purchase of Nigeria’s rescued banks.

The local banks that have indicated interest are First Bank PLC, Fidelity Bank and Ecobank The foreign banks include Standard Bank Group ltd, First Rand and Old Mutual Plc all South Africa financial institutions.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc it was learnt wants to buy at least one of the banks bailed out by the CBN according to the Chairman of the bank Oba Otudeko who spoke to reporters in South Africa.

He said “We are pursuing one or two of those on offer,” in an interview in Johannesburg. He also said that First Bank is considering a secondary listing in London or Johannesburg According to him listing in Either Johannesburg “is on the table,” he said.

CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has repeated said that the apex bank would in October open bids for the sale of Oceanic, Intercontinental, Union, Afribank, Finbank, Equatorial Trust, Spring and BankPHB.
The CBN fired top managers of these banks in August last year and injected N 620 billion of capital to ease a
debt crisis that threatened to cripple the financial system.

Standard Bank Group Ltd., FirstRand Ltd., and Old Mutual Plc, three of the largest financial institutions in South Africa, said in January they may be interested in buying stakes in the rescued banks. Fidelty Bank Plc and Ecobank Nigeria Plc also on Friday said they wanted to buy Afribank Plc.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi last month said he expects three international lenders, a number of private-equity firms and local lenders to submit offers by mid-July. The interested parties are undertaking “detailed” due diligence, he said. The central bank said last October that local banks can only buy a 20 per cent stake in the rescued banks. Oba Otudeko said “Our decision will be based on working with the government and also protecting the best interests of our shareholders.

“If we acquire, we would acquire at value.”

While a listing in London or Johannesburg is being considered, Otudeko declined to specify a time frame. “What we must not do is chew too much at one time,” he said.
“We have enough for now.” First Bank has gained 1.1 percent in Lagos trading this year, bringing its market value to 412.1 billion naira ($2.74 billion).
Nigeria may overtake South Africa to become the continent’s biggest economy in little over a decade, Standard Chartered Plc said last month.

Investors have swarmed to Nigeria, drawn by oil and gas reserves, the development of mobile phone networks and the country’s untapped banking market.
First Bank will expand its loan book in step with economic recovery, Otudeko said. “I’m sure we’ll not compromise on our conservatism and prudential lending,” he said. “It would be natural for us to want to grow, but we will be much more careful.”