First Bank willing to buy bailed-out Nigerian lenders

First Bank of Nigeria Plc, the West African nation’s largest bank by market value, said it will buy lenders bailed out by the central bank as long as they fit the company’s strategy. “Whilst we’re implementing the organic growth initiatives in house, we also have our eyes open for opportunities,” Chief Executive Officer Stephen Olabisi Onasanya said in an interview published today by Lagos-based Punch newspaper. “We will, however, only touch candidates that have value to add to our system and that fit into our strategy.” First Bank was one of 14 lenders that passed an audit by the Central Bank of Nigeria last year and joins South African banks, Standard Bank Group Ltd. and FirstRand Ltd., which said on January 14 that they’ll bid for Nigerian lenders. The audit resulted in 620bn naira ($4.1bn) being injected into 10 banks to cover bad debts, while the chief executive officers of eight banks were fired and replaced.