Heritage Banking Company Limited


Heritage Bank Plc. , often referred to as Heritage Bank or simply HB, is a financial services institution. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country's banking regulator, with a national operating license, that offers retail banking, corporate banking, online/internet banking, investment banking and asset management services; its head office is at 292B Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Overview

In 2012, the core investor, IEI Plc, through IEI Investments Limited, acquired the Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria license from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Having fulfilled all required criteria, the bank returned 100% of existing SGBN account holders’ money to their owners. Heritage Bank Plc is a large financial services provider in Nigeria. Currently licensed as a National Bank, it offers banking and financial services in the country, including the South, West, Southeast and the North., the total asset valuation of the bank was estimated at about US$1.7+ billion. Its shareholders' equity is worth at least US$88 million, the minimum capital requirement by the Central Bank of Nigeria, for national banks.

History

The bank traces its roots to the late 1970s, when it was founded as Societe Generale Bank , by the late Dr. Olusola Saraki. In January 2006, the Central Bank closed down SGBN on account of failure to meet new minimum capital requirements of US$155 million for a National Bank. SGBN successfully challenged the closure in court. In December 2012, CBN re-issued SGBN's banking license, but as a regional bank. Having acquired the banking license, the new ownership re-branded the bank as Heritage Banking Company Limited and opened for business under the new name on 4 March 2013.
In October 2014, Heritage Banking Company Ltd successfully met the requirements of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria toward owning 100% shares in Enterprise Bank Ltd.
On 27 January 2015, AMCON officially transferred ownership of Enterprise Bank Ltd to Heritage Bank Plc.

Ownership

, the bank's stock is publicly owned by the following corporate entities and individuals:
RankName of ownerPercentage ownership
1Heritage Investment Services Limited 80.0
2Priority shareholders9.0
3Other minority shareholders11.0
Total100.00

Branch network

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Heritage Bank Plc has 127 branches and 202 automated banking centers with over 350 ATMs in all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Governance

Jani Ibrahim FNSE, FAEng., OON, mni, a non-executive director, serves as the acting chairman of the seven-person board of directors. The managing director and chief executive officer, is Ifie Sekibo.

Acquiring Enterprise Bank

In October 2014, Heritage Bank acquired 100% shareholding in Enterprise Bank Limited, a nationalized financial services provider with over 160 branches and US$1.6 billion in assets. Heritage paid AMCON US$340 million, in cash, for the acquisition. Heritage Investment Services Limited, the investment arm of Heritage Banking Company Limited, was the winning bidder out of 24 Nigerian and International companies who competed for the acquisition of Enterprise Bank.