Advisers held stakes on both sides of Nigeria's first bank merger, report alleges
What's the deal? Nigerian lenders Providus BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Unity BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → combined into ProvidusUnity BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, in a merger an investigation by SecretsReporters alleges was advised on both sides by firms holding shares in the banks they counselled. The report also questions transparency around a ₦75 billion placement that underpins the enlarged lender.
What each side does: Providus brought digital banking and a customer-focused service culture, while Unity contributed broad geographic reach and an established market presence, according to the bank. The combined entity is positioned as a better-capitalised, nationally scaled institution.
The advisory concerns: The report says Lighthouse CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → advised Unity while holding 9.01% of its shares, and Planet CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — described as a significant Providus shareholder — also advised Unity. On the other side, PAC CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, described as related to Unity, and VetivaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a subsidiary of a significant Providus shareholder, advised Providus.
The placement: Providus placed 9,375,000,000 ordinary shares at ₦8.00 each in a private placement that raised ₦75 billion and closed in March 2026, arranged by Vetiva Capital Management, Cordros Capital and PAC Capital. The subscribers were never named, and two of the three arrangers sit within the same related-party network as the merger advisers.
Why now? The deal flowed from Nigeria's Central Bank recapitalisation drive, which raised ₦4.65 trillion across 33 banks by its March 2026 deadline. Providus–Unity was described as the programme's first merger; the Supreme Court sanctioned it on June 1, 2026.
What could go wrong? The Central Bank's Corporate Governance Guidelines require related-party transactions to be disclosed, conducted at arm's length and kept clear of interested parties, with penalties including director suspension. No court or regulator has ruled on the adviser appointments, and the allegations remain unproven.
The signal: As Nigeria's recapitalisation forces consolidation, the scrutiny moves beyond whether banks can raise capital to whether they disclose how — and who supplies it. For shareholders and depositors, the unnamed subscribers and overlapping advisers test how clearly the sector's biggest deals can be read.
Read more: secretsreporter.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
