The Carlyle Group has invested $147 million in Nigeria’s Diamond Bank. The investment came through the Bank’s recently completed $305 million rights issue.
Genevieve Sangudi, Managing Director and Head of West Africa for the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, said: “ Nigeria is the largest and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, and Diamond Bank is well positioned to continue to benefit from Nigeria’s attractive macro-economic trends. We are fully in support of the bank’s strategic goal to become one of the most successful Tier 1 banks in Nigeria and West Africa, and we look forward to supporting the Bank towards achieving this objective.”
Uzoma Dozie, Group Managing Director/CEO (Designate) of Diamond Bank, commented: “This investment is a testament of the Bank’s strong brand and success over the years, particularly in the Retail/SME space. We are confident that Carlyle’s support will be fruitful and benefit all stakeholders. They bring global expertise in financial services and banking, having invested $4 billion globally in over 25 financial services companies, along with long-standing experience in emerging markets. Diamond Bank also stands to benefit from Carlyle’s extensive network of financial services specialists as we continue to strengthen our market position, expand our commercial and retail offerings and further enhance our operations. We are delighted to have Carlyle as a significant shareholder of the Bank.”
Diamond Bank is a full-service bank offering a wide range of financial services and products throughout Nigeria and West Africa. As of September 30, 2014, the Bank had over $10 billion of total assets and $7 billion of customer deposits.
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $203 billion of assets under management across 129 funds and 141 fund of funds vehicles as of September 30, 2014. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America.