April 07, 2009

Nigeria's First Bank (FBNP.LG: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it has approved fresh merger talks with Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETIT.LG: Quote, Profile, Research), reviving a plan that could create one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest lenders.Merger plans between Nigeria's oldest bank and the pan-African banking group have been on and off the table for several years, most recently falling apart because shareholders were unable to agree on a valuation for the deal.

"Our board has just approved for the talks to be revived. We're still waiting for what the next step will be," a First Bank spokeswoman in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos said."There are still a lot of things that need to happen, regulatory approvals and so on," she said.Rami Batie, an Ecobank spokesman in Accra, said Ecobank and First Bank had been exploring a possible tie-up for three years, but said he had no more details.The two banks have done extensive due diligence during previous merger talks, but Ecobank'striple listing, on bourses in Nigeria.