As a result of the completion of the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank Plc by Access Bank Plc, the bank on Friday terminated the employment of about 1, 500 employees of Intercontinental Bank.

Also, it was gathered that the bank shut down some branches of Intercontinental Bank nationwide. It was learnt that the sacked employees were served with their disengagement letters on Friday.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Affairs Department, Access Bank, Mr. Austin Edoja, confirmed that some branches had been shut down, but declined to give further comment, saying, “We will issue a release on that later.”
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It was gathered that the action was taken by Access Bank with an eye to reducing overheads.

Access Bank and Intercontinental are expected to fuse into one entity by March 2012, and the closure of some branches of Intercontinental Bank is seen by analysts as a step in that direction.

Already, Intercontinental Bank branches are being rebranded in Access Bank colours, in preparation for the completion of the merger process in March, which will leave Access Bank as the surviving entity.

According to a statement by Access Bank to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in December, Intercontinental Bank Plc will cease to exist by March 2012.

Culled From Punch

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