Effect of Merger and Acqusition On The Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria (A Study of Access Bank PLC)
Effect of Merger and Acqusition On The Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria (A Study of Access Bank PLC)
Effect of Merger and Acqusition On The Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria (A Study of Access Bank PLC)
BY
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA,
FEBUARY 2023
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project was written by me and is the report of my research work. All
quotation is duely cited and the sources of information specifically acknowledged by means
of references.
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ARUMONA EMMANUEL OWOICHO DATE
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CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that this project titled “Effect of Merger and Acquisition on The Financial
Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria" has been duly presented to the department
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MRS. KAKA ABDULLAHI DATE
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DR. K.F.A IBRAHIM DATE
(HOD ACCOUNTING)
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EXTERNAL EXAMINER DATE
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this project to the Almighty God for seeing me through my project research.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To God Almighty for His divine intervention, wisdom, knowledge and guidance through out
To my dearest parents Dr. Jonah and Mrs. Patricia Arumona, my siblings; Victoria, Samuel,
Paul and Chris, for always being there for me and I pray that God continue to bless you all in
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgment v
Table of content vi
Abstract vii
CHAPTER TWO:
2.1. Introduction 7
2.5. Summary 19
3.1. Introduction 20
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3.4. Source and method of data collection 21
3.7. Summary 24
4.1. Introduction 26
4.5 Summary 31
5.1. Summary 33
5.2. Conclusion 33
5.3. Recommendation 34
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ABSTRACT
The objective of this research is to examine the effect of merger and Acquisition on the
financial performance Of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. The research was done on 24
listed banks that have undergone consolidation between 2008 and 2020. The study employed
Descriptive statistics and the result illustrated that the variable is a positive and significantly
correlated to merger and acquisition while merger and acquisition is found to have a positive
and significant effect on equity base, loan portfolio and deposit base. Other than that, the
study used the judgemental sampling aa a sampling technique. the findings shows that the
equity base, loan portfolio has effect on merger and acquisition. The recommendation is to
use other financial rations that have not been used in the study with wider time span and
greater sample size to portray a clearer picture for the management of deposit money banks,
government and its' agencies and shareholders advantage whether to consolidate other
deposit money banks to increase their financial performance.
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CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
Globally, banking sector is an integral part of an economy and performs a crucial and
effective role in the development process. Through intermediation functions, banking sector
makes available the funds from the supply side of the economy to the demand side for
investments purposes. It also facilitates payment system for ease transaction process in the
economy through electronic payment. In most cases, monetary authorities through banks
Unsurprisingly, successive government all over the world evolve an efficient banking system
Nigeria, banking sector has witnessed a tremendous growth over the past few years which is
reflected in the number of banks, total deposits, total investments, capital base, total loans
and advances and the profitability of in sector (Gazia and Sahar, 2013; Khadijat et al., 2012;
Uremadu, 2007).
However, despite the recent growth, banks in Nigeria still operate in a dynamic environment
affected by myriad of factors that created opportunities for the strong ones and causes distress
for the feeble (Okereke, 2004). One of these factors is the adequate capital base for all the
banks to perform different services to the society which is a fundamental basis for strong,
sound and safe banking system. Okereke (2004), argued that an adequate capitalization will
give a bank a competitive edge at both global and local markets and enables it to offer better
services and eventually increase its earnings. In the recent past and before rampant
consolidation, Nigeria banks have not been adequately capitalizing due to weak ownership
1
All these deficiencies led to early failure of banks, collapse of weak banks and incessant
banks runs which deterred the image of the bank and reduce customer’s confidence.
Furthermore, Abiola (2003), stated that distress and chronic illiquidity are the myriad of
Distress is a situation in which the bank is having financial, operational and managerial
problems. The first indigenous bank (the industrial and commercial bank) established in
1926 failed in 1930. By 1968, 19 out of 23 indigenous banks established had failed and in
1995, 60 out of 115 banks in Nigeria were considered to be distressed (Umoh, 2004). Prior to
2004 consolidation exercise; the performance of Nigeria’s banks was characterized by a high
instability (Obideyi, 2006). The capital base of the banks was so low that they could not
absorb losses occasioned by non-performing risk assets, keen competition and poor
management. Okpanachi (2011), observed that most Nigerian banks could not perform well
due to operational hardship and expansion bottlenecks as a result of heavy fixed and
operating costs. There were also serious cases of insider abuse, loss of confidence by the
customers and shareholders of the banks (Security and Exchange Commission SEC, 2005).
To curb the foregoing challenges, monetary authorities adopt several polices framework
which led to the introduction of merger and acquisition in the banking sector. The idea of
mergers and acquisitions in banking industry started in October, 2003. Although, the Central
Bank of Nigeria rolled out incentives to encourage weaker banks to adopt mergers and
acquisitions. These incentives included concessionary cash reserve ratio on a case- by -case
basis for a period of two years to the newly restructured banks, conversion of overdrawn
positions of weak banks to long-term loans with concessionary interest. The acquired banks
could be given up to 24 months grace period for complying with the minimum liquidity ratio
2
most of the feeble banks were unwilling to comply until the new order in 2004 (Famakinwa
et al., 2004). The reforms are directed at maintaining a sound and efficient banking system for
maintenance of confidence and stability of the banking system, and protection against
For instance; in 2007, Stanbic bank merged with IBTC bank. In 2011, Access Bank acquired
Intercontinental Bank plc, Ecobank acquired Oceanic Bank, while First city monument bank
plc (FCMB) acquired Fin bank plc, Keystone bank was formed and not long after, it took
over Platinum Habib Bank (PHB), and Afribank were taken by AMCON. In 2014, Skye bank
plc acquired Mainstreet bank ltd. And in the same year, Heritage bank plc acquired Enterprise
bank plc (Kayode, 2014). In 2018, Access bank later merged with Diamond bank while Sky
bank plc operating licence was revoked by apex bank and was taken over by new entity,
Polaris bank limited in 2018, due to waves of mergers and acquisitions taking place in the
Nigerian banking industry raised an important question of whether mergers and acquisitions
enhance banking sector's performance in Nigeria. Hence, the need to empirically analyze the
Business organizations are recently seeing mergers and acquisitions as an alternative means
failures and the Nigerian banking industry has proven to be no exception to this. The distress
syndrome which had crept into the Nigerian banking sector since the early 1990s has
persisted and this has brought chronic systemic crisis. Although, the consolidation policy
which was largely exhibited through the medium of mergers and acquisitions seemed to have
led to enhanced capital base for deposit money banks in Nigeria as well as transforming them
into stronger players in regional and global banking environment, the extent to which this
3
wave of bank mergers and acquisitions has transformed the sector and boosted the confidence
of the customers, the investors and the shareholders' needs to be assessed. The ability of the
banks to increase their market power and take full advantage of the benefits accruing to
mergers and acquisitions of organizations which ultimately enhances the performance of the
banks, especially through the financing of the real sector of the Nigerian economy is not in
doubt. Therefore, the research work seeks to investigate and evaluate the significance of
deposit money banks can be measured using equity base, total loan portfolio and deposit.
For this study, the following are the major research questions:
• How has merger and acquisition contributed to the equity base of deposit money
banks in Nigeria?
• How has merger and acquisition contributed to the total loan portfolio of deposit
• How has merger and acquisition contributed to the total deposit base of deposit
The objectives of the study will be achieved by evaluating the effect of mergers and
acquisition on deposit money banks by analyzing the growth strategy used by Diamond bank
plc. This is purely achieved through mergers and/or acquisitions of other banks. The
• To identify the contributions of merger and acquisition to the equity base deposit
4
• To identify the contributions of merger and acquisition to the total loan Portfolio
• To ascertain the effect of merger and acquisition on the total deposit base of
Ho1: Merger and acquisition has no significant effect on the equity base of deposit money
banks in Nigeria.
Ho2: Merger and acquisition has no significant effect on total deposit base of deposit money
bank in Nigeria
Ho3: Merger and acquisition has no significant effect on the total deposit base of deposit
The research hope that at its completion, it will contribute immensely to the existing literature
of the effect of merger and acquisition on financial performance of deposit money banks in
Nigeria and access bank plc in particular. It will as well be beneficial to students of various
learning and other research in the area of merger and acquisition beyond the field of
accounting. This study will help in the management of deposit money banks and also
government and its agencies especially those that are established to regulate and approve
merger and acquisition proposal. Shareholders will find this study important on how to
increase shares during the merger process in order to experience a dilution of voting power
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1.7 Scope of the Study
This study covers only two strategies namely, Merger and Acquisition Strategies
(Independent Variables). The Performance Variable to be covered shall include equity base,
total loan portfolio and deposit base (Dependent Variables) of deposit money bank with
respect to Access Bank Plc. It will make reference on the need for investigating publicly to
embarking on it.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This research focuses on the effect of merger and acquisition on the financial performance of
deposit money banks in Nigeria. In this chapter, the research will be focusing on the
conceptual framework, the theoretical framework and the empirical review of the study.
The current study is examined to recognize the effects of merger and acquisition on the
financial performance of deposit money banks. The study examines both the positive and
negative effects for deposit money banks in merger and acquisition. The study scrutinizes the
issues by using the perspective of history, motives and methods to determine merger and
acquisition value. Although, the field of merger and acquisition research is far too broad and
more complex to be covered in a review paper, therefore, the study attempts to start covering
some issues such as the distinctions between merger and acquisition, the need for merger and
acquisition as well as the history of merger and acquisition (both global history and the
Nigerian history).
The then Diamond Bank had faced the possible revocation of its license due to its non-
performing loans of over N150 billion and the resignation of three of its directors and the
chairman of the board of directors. However, it was able to prevent this occurrence by
entering into a merger arrangement with Access Bank. This prevented Diamond Bank from
facing the same fate as Skye Bank Plc which had its license revoked in September 2018 due
to the depletion of its capital base. The CBN subsequently injected about N786billion into the
bank to shore up its liquidity and transferred the operations, assets and management of Skye
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Bank to Polaris Bank Limited, a bridge bank. Access Bank Plc in December 2018, announced
that it has merged with another lender Diamond Bank Plc. The merger will position Access
Bank as the biggest lender by assets in Nigeria. Following the completion of the merger,
Diamond Bank would be absorbed into Access Bank and will cease to exist under Nigerian
law. The current listing of receipt on the London Stock Exchange was also cancelled, upon
the merger becoming effective. The receipts on the London stock Exchange were also
Diamond Bank’s shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the listing of Diamond Bank’s
global deposit bank will retain the Access Bank name. The combined bank retained the
executive chief of bank will retain the Access Bank name and be led by Access Bank’s
A merger is a combination of two or more companies in which the assets and liabilities of the
selling firms are absorbed by the buying firm (Sherman and Hart, 2006). It is also the
Bank, 2000, Gaughan, 2002, Jagersma, 2005, Awasi Mohamad and Vijay Baskar, 2009).
According to Stedman (1993), merger simply means the coming together or amalgamation of
two or more companies or firms to form a new and bigger company or firm. A merger has
been statutorily defined in the Companies and Allied Matters Act (1990) as amended in
companies and one or more corporate bodies. Merger can be defined as an arrangement
whereby the assets of two companies become vested in or under the control of one company
(which may or may not be one of the two original companies) which has all or substantially
all the shareholders of the two companies (Weinberg and Blank, 1979).
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2.2.2 Concept of Acquisition
managerial influence (European Central Bank, 2000, Chunlai Chen and Findlay, 2003, Awasi
Mohamad and Vijay Baskar, 2009), not necessarily by mutual agreement (Jagersma, 2005,
Angwin (1970) referred to acquisition as a takeover where the acquiring firm owns 100% of
the target and has purchased the entity of the acquired firm. As further noted by Angwin
(2007), the management of the acquiring firm assumes a superior position to the acquired in
which it is able to do whatever it wishes with all the resources, capabilities and the liabilities
of the acquired firm. This loss of ownership and control of the acquired is what prompted its
description as a takeover.
business entity. Specific acquisition targets can be identified through myriad avenues,
including market research, trade expos, sent up from internal business units or supply chain
analysis. Such purchase may be of 100% or nearly 100% of the assets or ownership equity of
the acquired entity. Acquisitions are divided into “private and public” acquisitions, depending
on whether the acquire or merging company is or is not listed on a public stock market. Such
Achieving acquisition success has proven to be very difficult while various studies have
shown that 50% of acquisitions were unsuccessful. Serial acquirers appear to be more
successful with merger and acquisition than companies who make an acquisition only
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business combination in which ownership and management of independently operating
Merger is the “combination of all the assets, liabilities, loans and business of two or more
companies such that one of them survives.” Many firms across the globe have adopted the
strategy of merger and acquisition. The merger and acquisition are one of the important tools
to achieve economic growth through sound financial system. Merger is the ‘combination of
all assets, liabilities, loan and business of two or more companies such that one survives.’
Many firms across the globe have adopted the strategy of merger and acquisition to achieve
high growth in business. Godbole (2013), opined that merger and acquisition serves the
purpose of expansion, reducing the level of competition and creation of a large entity.
Mergers and acquisitions especially in the banking industry is now a global phenomenon. In
the United States of America, there had been over 7,000 cases of bank mergers since 1980,
while the same trend occurred in the United Kingdom and other European countries.
Specifically, in the period 1997-1998, 203 bank mergers and acquisitions took place in the
Euro area. In 1998 a merger in France resulted in a new bank with a capital base of US$688
billion, while the merger of two banks in Germany in the same year created the second largest
According to Soludo (2006), in Nigeria, the banking sector has undergone the consolidation
exercise, which was only aimed at recapitalizing the banks and increasing banks capital base
to #25billion but has had little or no significant impact because there are still weak banks as
a result of huge non-performing loans (Godbole, 2013). Thomsen (2018), revealed that the
two of the top three largest merger and acquisition deals in the first half of 2018 took place in
Nigeria with the largest being Milost Global Inc. $1.1 billion leveraged buyout transaction to
acquire the entire share capital of Prime Waterview Holdings Nigeria Ltd. The Global
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transaction report obtained by Sweet crude indicated that total M&A value in Nigeria and
The biggest transaction was the acquisition of Nigerian businesses of ConocoPhillips (COP)
by Oando in a transaction valued at $1.55 billion. In December 2012, Oando, through its
subsidiary Oando Energy Resources (OER), had entered into an agreement with COP to
acquire COP’s Nigeria businesses for a total cash consideration of US$ 541 billion. The
payment and government sign-off of the deal was concluded in 2014. This was followed by
acquisition of the entire issued shares of Mainstreet Bank Limited from Asset Management
Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) by Skye Bank Plc for total consideration of N120 billion.
The report underlined the ongoing divestments by banks as major drivers for mergers and
acquisitions with nearly half of the transactions directly and indirectly related to the change in
2.2.4 Concept of Equity Base; (i) if the Company (or its successor by merger or otherwise)
has a class of common equity securities listed on a National Securities Exchange, the sum of
the value of all outstanding Common Units plus the liquidation preference of all outstanding
preferred Partnership Units, and (ii) if the Company (or its successor by merger or otherwise)
does not have a class of common equity securities listed on a national securities exchange, the
Net Worth of the Partnership. For purposes of clause (i) in the preceding sentence, the value
of all outstanding Common Units shall be equal to the product of (i) the number of
outstanding Common Units multiplied by (ii) the Conversion Factor, multiplied by (iii) the
30-day VWAP of the REIT Shares as of the date of the most recent quarterly financial
statement.
2.2.5 Concept of Deposit base; is to provide maturity transformation, banks need a deposit
base deposits that could be, but are not, withdrawn most of the time and are, thus, used for
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long-term lending. As depositors become more flexible in their bank relations, keeping
2.2.6 Concept of Loan portfolio; is the balance of all loans that the bank has issued to
individuals and entities, calculated on a specific date. The loan portfolio is one of the
According to differential theory of merger, one reason for a merger is that if the management
According to this theory, if some companies are operating at a level which is below the
optimum potential of the company, then it is better if it is taken over by another company.
This theory also implies that the management of a company is also not efficient in running
the company and therefore, there are always chances that it will be taken over by other
companies. Differential theory can be particularly helpful when a company decides to take
over another company in the same industry because it would mean that company which is
taking over another company can expand without much cost because of the efficient
utilization of all their sources. However, there is one risk to this which is if the acquiring
company pays too much for acquiring the company but in reality, the resources do not get
utilized in a manner which is forecasted, then it can lead to problems for the acquiring
According to this theory, some firms operate below their potential and consequently have low
efficiency. Such firms are likely to be acquired by another, more efficient firms in the same
industry, this is because firms with greater efficiency would be able to identity firms with
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good potential operating at a lower efficiency. They would also have the managerial ability to
improve the latter's performance. However, a difficulty would arise when the acquiring firm
overestimates its impact on improving the performance of the acquired firm. This may result
in the acquirer paying too much for the acquired firm. Alternatively, the acquirer may not be
able to improve the acquired firm's performance up to the level of the acquisition value given
states that a firm whose management team has greater competency than is required by the
current asks in the firm may seek to employ the surplus resources by acquiring and improving
the efficiency of a firm which is less efficient due to lack of adequate managerial resources.
According to this theory, financial synergy occurs as a result of the lower costs of internal
financing versus external financing. A combination of firms with different cash flow positions
and investment opportunities may produce a financial synergy effect and achieve a lower cost
of capital, tax saving is another consideration. When the two firms merge, their combined
debt capacity may be greater than the sum of their individual capacities before the merger.
The financial synergy theory also states that when the cash flow rate of the acquirer is greater
than that of the acquired firm, capital is relocated to the acquired firm and its investment
The theory of managerial hubris (Roll, 1986) suggests that managers may have good
intentions in increasing their firm's value but being over-confident; they over-estimate their
explain M&As. It states that the management of acquiring firms overrates their ability to
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erroneous decisions which are overpriced (Trautwein 1990). Over-confidence increases the
probability of overpaying (Hayward and Hambrick, 1997; Malmendier and Tate, 2008) and
may leave the winning bidder in the situation of a winner's curse which dramatically
In an auction environment, the Winning bid is usually in excess of the estimated value of the
target company and is likely to represent a positive valuation error. The positive valuation
error represents the 'winner's curse. The winner is cursed in the sense that he pays more than
the company's worth. In particular, the hubris theory states that when a merger or acquisition
announcement is made, the shareholders of the bidding firm incur a loss in terms of the share
price while those of the target firm generally enjoy a contrary effect. The prime reason behind
this is that when a firm announces a merger offer to the target, the share price of the target
firm increases because shareholders in the target firm are ready to transfer shares in response
to the high premium that will be offered by the acquiring firm (Machiraju, 2010). The risk of
potential failure, due to overrated acquisition price which significantly exceeds the fair value
of the target company, increases in an auction. This phenomenon is the basis of the winner's
curse hypothesis that argues that the value of a target traded in an auction is usually lower
Merger and acquisitions can end up destroying value rather than creating synergies, even
though managers act fully rationally. The literature of agency theory throws light on how
managers’ interest in maximizing their own utility can lead to decisions that are not in the
interest of the shareholders. However, the decisions are fully conscious and are a result of
opportunism rather than irrational behavior (B Jarke and Peter,2010). The agency theory
assumes full rationality for both the owners and managers (Thomsen, 2008). Conflict of
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interest between the two parties will in agency theory be analyzed with an opportunistic
behavioral assumption. Hence, the agent will take advantage of the superior information to
own-benefit, as in what Gorton, Kahl and Rosen (2005) referred to as eat or be eaten mergers
decisions to protect managers’ job. The policy thrust of the agency theory is that most if not
all mergers and acquisitions bids are not to the benefits of shareholders and business owners
and may not yield any synergies since managers always have superior information of the
business prospects and would take advantage of every opportunity to satisfy their personal
interest.
The “Eat or be eaten theory of mergers was propounded by Gorton, Kahl and Rosen (2005),
as a response to the various merger waves experienced in the United States in the 1960s up to
the late 1990s. Gorton, Kahl and Rosen (2005) combine elements of Neoclassical and
behavioural theories in a new theoretical framework called Eat or be eaten. The Eat or be
Eaten theory presents a model of defensive mergers and acquisitions. The theory argues that
mergers and acquisitions can occur when managers prefer that their firms remain independent
rather than be acquired. The theory further assumes that managers can reduce their chances of
being acquired by acquiring another firm and hence increasing the size of their own size. The
policy thrust of the “eat or be eaten” theory is that mergers and acquisitions could take place,
either to avoid being acquired by other firms, maintain company’s independence, increase a
company’s size or protect its managers’ job. In other words, managerial defensive motives
may be the reason for mergers and acquisitions as managers may want to make acquisitions
to increase firm’s size and hence reduce the likelihood of their firms being taken over.
This study is supported by the financial synergy theory; this is because, A combination of
firms with different cash flow positions and investment opportunities may produce a financial
15
synergy effect and achieve a lower cost of capital, tax saving is another consideration. When
the two firms merge, their combined debt capacity may be greater than the sum of their
individual capacities before the merger. The financial synergy theory also states that when the
cash flow rate of the acquirer is greater than that of the acquired firm, capital is relocated to
the acquired firm and its investment opportunities improve (Leland, 2007).
Ikpefan (2013) carried out an empirical study on post-consolidation effect of mergers and
acquisitions on Nigeria deposit money bank. The study was carried out to find out the
challenges faced by the banks during and after the exercise, the performance of these banks
post-consolidation and if mergers and acquisitions has in any way affected the banks and if
so, in what ways? The panel data regression technique was used in the analysis and we found
that mergers and acquisitions affect banks performance but does not affect banks’ cost of
equity capital.
The previous studies on the relationship between banks mergers and acquisitions and bank
performance provided mixed evidence and many failed to show a clear banks relationship
between mergers and acquisitions and performance. Many researchers agreed that banks have
been able to significantly improve their profit potential through merger and they agreed that
merger and acquisition has helped Nigerian banks to be more efficient in financial
intermediation. The studies of Carletti et al. (2002) and Szapary (2001) provided the
foundation for research on the linkage between banks mergers and acquisitions and
profitability.
Joshua (2009) discovered that the post-merger and acquisitions period was more financially
efficient than the pre-merger and acquisitions period. Olagunju and Obademi (2012) also
found that there is significant relationship between pre and post mergers and acquisitions on
16
one hand and capital base of commercial banks and level of profitability on the other hand.
Walter and Uche (2005) posited that mergers and acquisitions made Nigerian banks more
efficient.
Elumide (2006) also agreed that mergers and acquisitions had improved competitiveness and
efficiency of the borrowing and lending operations of Nigeria banking industry. According to
Caprio Calomiris and Kerenski and De-Nicolo (2003), evidence suggested that mergers and
acquisitions in the financial system could impact positively on the efficiency of most banks.
With the use of chi square to test his stated hypothesis, Akpan (2011) found that the policy of
consolidation and capitalization has ensured customers’ confidence in the Nigerian banking
Owolabi and Ogunlalu (2013) discovered that it is not all the time that consolidation
transforms into good financial performance of banks. DeLong and Deyoung et al.(2009) and
Amel et al. (2004) also found that mergers and acquisition have not had a positive influence
on banks performance in terms of efficiency. On the other hand, Beitel et al. (2004), found no
Chen Liang (2006) examines the impact of merger and acquisition announcements on firms'
stock performance made by companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. An event
study methodology was used using 44 events as the sample size. The study found that merger
and acquisition announcement effect is significant over the period of event and investors can
earn abnormal return by trading an acquiring company 2 days before the announcement data.
Onaolapo and Ajala (2013) studied the effects of merger and acquisition on the performance
of selected commercial banks in Nigeria using the regression analysis through statistical
package for social sciences and found that post-merger and acquisition period was more
17
financially improved than the pre-merger and acquisition period on the seven selected banks
Appah and John (2011) conducted research on mergers and acquisitions in the banking
industry, the findings reveal that the consolidation merger and acquisition activities in Nigeria
did not meet the desired objectives of liquidity, capital adequacy and corporate governance
Adetayo, Sajuyigbe and Olowe (2013) examined the impact of post-merger on Nigeria banks
profitability using the multiple regressions and the method of estimation is Ordinary Least
Square (OLS) with aid of STATA software. The result showed that post-merger has not
Suberu and Aremu (2011) conducted a study of corporate governance and merger activity in
the Nigerian Banking Industry using twenty-five (25) successful mergers arising from the
regulatory demand for consolidation. The major finding reveal that the Banking Sector is
partly responsible for the poor state of the Nigerian Economy through its support for the
import dependence nature of the economy rather than financing of sustainable economic
Onikoyi (2014) carried out research on mergers and acquisitions and performance in Nigeria.
Using the simple linear regression through review between 2003 and 2008 on two banks. The
result revealed that both groups produced in addition to operational and relational synergy,
financial gains far more than the synergistic effects. Ratio technique and inferential statistical
acquisitions on financial efficiency of banks in Nigeria. This paper used gross earnings, profit
18
after tax and net assets of the selected banks. For this paper, three Nigerian banks were
selected using convenience and judgmental sample selection methods using analyzed
applying t-test statistics through statistical package for social sciences. It was found that the
post-mergers and acquisitions' period was more financially efficient than the pre-mergers and
acquisitions period.
From the review of literature and empirical studies on the impact of mergers and acquisitions
on the performance of banks in Nigeria, scholars appear to have different conclusions. The
position of the scholars that posited positive relationship between merger and acquisition; and
bank performance make logical sense because the essence of mergers and acquisition is to
improve efficiency in financial intermediation thereby propelling the banks toward profit
maximization. It is therefore expected this study that post-merger periods will be better in
2.5 Summary
In summary, this chapter started by reviewing the conceptual framework Which detailed on
the distinctions between merger and acquisition, the need for merger and acquisition, it also
gave the global history of merger and acquisition which talks about the evolution of merger
and acquisition focusing on the waves of merger and acquisition. The conceptual framework
also detailed on the merger and acquisition in Nigeria and gave a brief history of merger and
acquisition on Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. This chapter also went further to review
some of the theories of merger and acquisition which includes Differential Efficiency theory,
financial synergy theory, the Hubris theory, agency theory, and the "Eat or be Eaten'" theory
of mergers. The chapter also reviewed the empirical study done by other researchers on the
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, this research will be focusing on the research design, the population, sampling
size and technique of the study, the method of data collection, the procedure for data analysis
The research design that will be used for the study is the ex post facto research design. It is
used where the phenomenon under the study has already taken place. Previous data relating
to the subject matter will be collected to establish the relationship between the phenomenon
under study.
The population consists of all the twenty-four (24) banks that scaled through the 2005
consolidation exercise. This includes all the banks that recapitalized through merger and
acquisition. All the banks that met the capitalization requirements of the CBN together with
their respective status during consolidation are shown in the appendix (Daniya Adeiza
The study used judgmental sampling technique to select four (4) banks from the population.
The selected banks are those banks that retained their identities prior to and after the merger
and acquisition activities. To this end, only four (4) banks Oul of the banks that satisfied the
20
criterion were selected as the sample size of the study. Two of them are old generation banks
while the other two are new generation banks. The old generation banks are First Bank of
Nigeria (FBN) plc. and United Bank for Africa (UBA) plc. while the new generation banks
are Access bank plc. and wema Bank ple. (Daniya Adeiza Abdulazeez, Onotu Suleiman and
Abdulrahaman Yahaya).
In order to meet the aims of the project, it is necessary to use secondary method for data
collection. Secondary data is the data collected by others to be re-used by the researcher. It is
also the data that have already been collected for purposes other than the problem at hand
(Malhotra, 2004). This data includes both quantitative and qualitative data and can be located
quickly and inexpensively (Proctor, 2003). According to Malhotra (2004), secondary data
can be classified as either internal or external. Internal data are those generated within the
organization for which the research is being conducted and it may be available in a ready-to-
use format or with considerable processing requirements to extract it. On the other hand,
external data are those generated by sources outside the organization. Through the method of
Desk research, it is possible to extract it in the form of published material, online databases or
information made available by syndicating services that include sources like Kearney Global
Retail Development Index, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, etc.
To conduct the investigation that examines the effect of merger and acquisition on the
The two constructs include ‘financial performance’ and ‘merger and acquisition’. The model
21
Y=β0 +βXI +µ
µ=Error Term
Representing equation two with the variables of the construct, hence the equation below is
formulated with inclusion of a control variable dummy. The dummy was critically included
because it would aid in the understanding of the effect of merger and acquisition in
explaining the level of financial performance obtainable. Furthermore, the inclusion of the
control would enhance a better predictability and analysis of the relationship existing between
the two constructs ('merger and acquisition' and financial performance'). Therefore,
Relationship between merger and acquisition, equity base, loan deposit base and
Where:
22
LNP= Bank loan portfolio
Our prior expectation about the relationship between merger and acquisition and ‘financial
performance’ is that merger and acquisition have a significant effect on the financial
performance of banks. This paper employs that panel data framework for the analysis due
basically to its advantage of giving more data points. Estimation of the model will be done
through the statistical t-term since the study is meant to study a pre and post-merger and
acquisition periods. Panel regression techniques are used because it has the following
advantages. First, it has the advantage of giving more informative data as it consists of both
the cross-sectional information, which captures individual variability and the time series
information which captures dynamic adjustment. Unlike time series studies which plagued
with multi-collinearity issues, panel data gives less collinearity among the variables, more
degrees of freedom and more efficiency. Hence, this will be useful in effectively studying the
effects of the independent variables on financial performance. Most studies used the E-views
5.0 package but this study will use the Stata 13 package in order to be able to test between
C= intercept
23
T-test Analysis and Decision Rule
The study adopted the t-test statistics to compare the two periods. Two years were selected.
These are two years to the merger and two years after merger these are 2003 and 2007. The
financial statements for the two years were obtained from the Nigerian Stock Exchange
(NSE) 2009-year book and also from the websites of the selected banks.
The hypothesis formulated in Chapter one will be tested at 10% level of significance
otherwise we do not reject the null and reject the alternative hypothesis.
The decision rule is to reject the null hypothesis if the tabulated value is higher than the
calculated value at 10% level of significance otherwise, we do not reject the null and reject
We may be interested in quantifying the extent to which two variables are related. This
project uses the descriptive statistics to identify the changes over the period of the study. In
the discussion of cross tabulations, we often wanted to determine whether two variables in a
data set were related in some manner. ln this regard, we were able to state, to a certain
specified statistical significance, that the variables did or did not have some kind of
relationship. Although, this hypothesis is procedure for cross tabulations is indeed helpful, it
does not quantity the degree to which the two variables are related. In this project, we will
consider such a method of quantifying the relationship between two statistical variables.
3.7 Summary
In summary this chapter started by reviewing the research design and gave detail on the
population and sampling technique, it gave the source and method of data collection. The
chapter also stated clearly the procedure for data analysis and model specification. ln this
24
regard, we were able to state, to a certain specified statistical significance, that the variables
25
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on the presentation and analysis of the data using t-test value of the
The data were extracted from the financial report of the accounts of the sampled firms for the
period being studied. The period studied are representing two years to and after the merger
and acquisition exercise in Nigeria. These financial reports and accounts include the
The descriptive statistics in this study is used to provide simple summaries about the samples
selected for the study. The analysis enables us to have first-hand information of the key issues
for this research work. The mean, minimum, maximum and the standard deviation of the
variables under study provides answer to whether they are positive or negative changes in the
pre and post periods of the merger and acquisition. The raw data used for the descriptive
analysis are presented in the appendices. The variables series include total equity, total loans
and the deposit base of the sampled banks. The summary of these statistics are presented in
table 1 below.
26
4.2.2 PRE ACQUISITION RESULT
TABLE 1
Descriptive Statistics
Return on
4 .48 2.59 1.5925 1.12370
Asset
Valid N
4
(listwise)
The descriptive statistics in the table above shows the average mean of the equity of the four
deposit money banks is 49700320.7500 while the loan deposit base are 17319633.2500 and
132985339.250 respectively. The minimum and the maximum equity before merger and
acquisition period are 595169.00 and 184830757.00 respectively with the standard deviation
of 90201793.11310. The minimum and the maximum loan in the before merger and
acquisition period are 6505420.00 and 33317281.00 respectively with the standard deviation
of 12837603.83461. also the minimum and the maximum deposit base in the period are
27
4.2.3 POST ACQUISITION RESULT
Table 2:
Descriptive Statistics
Return on
4 .60 1.71 1.1465 .45611
Asset
Valid N
4
(listwise)
The descriptive statistics in the table above shows the average mean of the equity of the four
deposit money banks is 67720015.5000 while the loan deposit base are 72089374.7500 and
130579449.2500 respectively. The minimum and the maximum equity in the post-acquisition
period are 3507860.00 and 172002026.00 respectively with the standard deviation of
78213053.35657 the minimum and the maximum loan in the post-acquisition period are
also, the minimum and the maximum deposit base in the period are 11852550.00 and
351789279.00 respectively.
Form the descriptive statistics above, in all the variables considered, the post merger result
has higher figures in mean, minimum and maximum that the pre-merger figures in respect of
the equity, loan and deposit base which proxies for the performance of deposit money banks.
This shows that merger and acquisition in respect of the sampled deposit money banks has
28
positive and significant effect on the financial performance of deposit money banks in
Nigeria.
T-Test Result
Table 3:
2405890
Table 3 above shows the mean of the two groups of data which is the pre and post M&A, for
the equity the mean for the post M&A amounted to 67720015.5000 and the pre M&A is
49700320.7500 which resulted to the mean difference of 18019695. The second row of the
table above show the mean for the loan for the pre and post M&A which amounted to
Finally, the third row contains the mean of the deposit base post and pre M&A which is
130579449.2500 and 132985339.2500 respectively and giving the total mean difference of -
2405890
29
4.3 TEST OF HYPOTHESES
Ho1: Merger and Acquisition has no significant effect on the equity base of deposit money
bank in Nigeria.
The table 3 above shows the difference between the pre and post M&A on the total Equity
base on Deposit money banks in Nigeria. The result shows a positive mean difference value
of 18019695 thus the null hypothesis is rejected. The alternative hypothesis which posits that
merger and acquisition has significant effect on total equity base of deposit money banks is
therefore accepted. Therefore, the study concludes that Merger and Acquisition has a positive
Ho2: Merger and Acquisition has no significant effect on the total loan portfolio of deposit
The table 3 above also shows difference between the pre and post M&A on the total loan
portfolio of deposit money bank in Nigeria. The result shows a positive value of 54769742
thus the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative is accepted. Therefore, the study
concludes that Merger and Acquisition has a positive effect on the total loan portfolio of
Ho3: Merger and Acquisition has no significant effect on the total deposit base of deposit
The table 3 above shows the difference between the pre and post M&A on the total deposit
base of deposit money banks in Nigeria. The result shows a negative value of -2405890 thus
the null hypothesis is not rejected. The alternative hypothesis which posits that merger and
acquisition has significant effect on total deposit base is rejected. Therefore, the study
30
concludes that Merger and Acquisition has a no significant effect on the total deposit base of
The study agrees with the findings of Ikpafen (2013), which found that mergers and
acquisitions affect banks performance but does not affect banks’ cost of equity capital. It is
also in tanderm with the works of Okpanachi (2011), who held that the post-mergers and
acquisitions' period was more financially efficient than the pre-mergers and acquisitions
period. Other works which agrees with our findings are Joshua (2009), which discovered that
the post-merger and acquisitions period was more financially efficient than the pre-merger
However, our result on the total deposit base shows that post merger result is not significant
compared with the pre merger period. This also agrees with the works of Appah and John
(2011) which conducted research on mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry, the
findings reveal that the consolidation merger and acquisition activities in Nigeria did not meet
the desired objectives of liquidity, capital adequacy and corporate governance which have
resulted to more troubled banks after the consolidation. Also Adetayo, Sajuyigbe and Olowe
(2013) also examined the same subject matter and found that post-merger has not
In all the variables considered, the post-acquisition result has higher figures in mean,
minimum and maximum than the pre-merger figures in respect of the equity, loan and deposit
base which are proxies for the performance of deposit money banks. This shows that merger
31
and acquisition in respect of the sampled deposit money banks has positive and significant
From the t-test results above, we discover that the t-value is 1.1465 As stated in the previous
chapter, the result will be tested at 10% level of significance. The t-test result is lower than
the critical value at 10%. In line with the decision rule, we therefore reject two null
hypotheses and accept the alternatives. This means that merger and acquisition has positive
and significant effect on the financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. This
32
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 SUMMARY
Due to the persistent distress syndrome which has crept into the banking sector since the
early 1990s, merger and acquisition seemed to have enhanced capital base for deposit money
banks in Nigeria as well as transforming them into stronger players in regional and global
banking environment. Secondary data were gathered, presented and analised. This helped us
to have first hand information on key issues regarding merger and acquisition. Considering
total equity, total loans, and the deposit base of the sampled banks as our variables, we were
interested in quantifying the extent to which variables in this reasearch are related. In this
regard, using cross tabulation to compare pre acquisition and post acquisition result, we were
able to state, to a certain specified statistical significance that the variables did and did not
have some kind of relationship. However, our result on the total deposit base shows that post
acquisition result is not significant compared with the pre acquisition period. Inaguably this
reasearch reveal that the consolidation merger and acquisition activities in Nigeria did not
meet the desired objectives of liquidity, capital adequacy and corporate governance which
5.2 CONCLUSION
The study has reviewed the effectiveness of bank mergers in the conduct of sustainable
financial system. We notice that there seems to be a presumption that the reform in the
banking sector is all that is required to fix the economy. The idea underlying the merging
policy is that bank merger would reduce the insolvency risk through asset diversification. It is
equally noted that mergers require time-frame. Hence, the banks consolidation exercise of
33
2005 as supervised by the Central Bank of Nigeria has yielded basketful of benefits in terms
This study is also in line with the study of (Ikpefan and kazeem, 2013)
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher would like to make the following
recommendations:
• Mergers have associated risks which if not well managed and implemented can
the target firm, and managers' inability to handle the complex task of integrating
two firms with different processes, accounting methods, operating culture, vision
and focus, these pitfalls must be avoided by all means. Pro-activism and
• Organizations should not jump at any merging opportunity that offers itself
because the exercise is not an opportunistic one. It has to be well planned and well
executed to realize the very strategies objectives of venturing into the exercise in
the first instance because what makes a sound bank is really how effective and
exercise.
• Banks should be able to invest their funds profitably for the benefit of
34
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38
APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Access Bank Plc Access Bank, Marina Int’l. Bank and Capital Bank
Int’l
Fidelity Bank Fidelity Bank, FSB Int’l Bank and Manny Bank
First Bank of Nig. Plc First Bank Plc, MCB Int’l. Bank and FSB (Merchant
Bank)
First City Monument Bank Plc First city Monument Bank, coop Dev Bank, Nigeria
United Bank For Africa Plc United Bank for Africa Plc, Standard Trust Bank Plc
Union Bank Plc Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Union Merchant Bank
Bank
Bank of Nigeria
39
Point Bank, Sociate Bank Care,
Bank
Regent Bank
Bank
Oceanic Bank Int’l. Plc Oceanic Bank Int’l. Plc and Int’l.
40
Trust Bank
(Merchant Bank)
trans
Chartered Bank
41
APPENDIX 2
2016
Tax
2020
Tax
42