FirstRand chasing Nigerian deals after oil slump
Davos/Johannesburg — The crisis in Nigeria is throwing up opportunities for Africa’s largest bank. FirstRand, which was seeking an acquisition of mid-sized lender in the continent’s most populous nation, was also considering one other target after ending talks with two lenders because of differences over price, chairman Laurie Dippenaar said. The company would prefer an institution with a big branch network, although it was unlikely to buy any of the country’s large banks, he said. "Deals crop up," Dippenaar said in an interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. "And the tougher it gets with the oil price, we get approached." Nigeria is in the grips of a year-long recession as the country struggles to cope with oil prices that have halved since mid-2014 and a shortage of foreign currencies that has caused the naira to plunge in value. The economy’s woes have spilt onto the books of the country’s small and medium-sized banks, with troubled loans across the indu...
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