Titan Trust Bank Clinches Deal of the Year Award as CEO, Adaeze Udensi Emerges Female Banker of the Year

Titan Trust Bank Limited (TTB) and its Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Adaeze Udensi, were honoured at the 2022 edition of the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards held on Saturday in Lagos.

While TTB won the ‘Deal of the Year award, for its recent acquisition of 105-year-old Union Bank of Nigeria in barely three years of its establishment, Dr. Udensi was adjudged the ‘Female Banker of the Year.

According to the organizers, BusinessDay Newspapers, the bank clinched the award in recognition of its drive and tenacity in overcoming significant obstacles, complexity, and regulatory hurdles, and setting the tone for the market or laying a template for future transactions.

“When the deal was first announced’ many had wondered how a 3-year-old institution had found the daring, backing, and deal-making leverage to acquire a venerable institution.

“The sheer stealth and scale of the deal are worthy of recognition. This is because the potential of this deal to fundamentally reshape the banking industry is not in doubt,” the newspaper said.

Receiving the award on behalf of the bank, Mr. Mudassir Amray, Union Bank’s Managing Director/CEO, said: “Recognitions such as this show that we are indeed doing something right, and I want to assure all our customers and stakeholders that we will continue to leverage on platforms and dedicated workforce to further strengthen our drive to the top.

“We promise to do all we can to ensure that our customers remain central to our decisions in every aspect and dimension of our remarkable organization, and this is more than a clarion call to service excellence.
“We, therefore, dedicate this award to all our stakeholders including, customers, shareholders, board of directors, executive management, and staff.”

Recall that Titan Trust Bank, in pursuit of an expansionary course with the objective of building a stronger brand capable of taking on a larger market share of a continent striving for financial inclusion, took the financial industry by surprise after it announced its acquisition of 93.41% holding in Union Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria’s second oldest lender in few years of its operation.

The deal, regarded as one of the largest acquisition deals in the history of Nigeria’s banking industry, with an off-market deal worth N191 billion, was, however, formalized earlier this year with Tropical General Investments Limited (TGI Group), the parent company of TTB, becoming majority shareholder and core investor in UBN. The deal has, however, received applause from shareholders, investors, and industry watchers who have described it as a win-win for Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.

To further demonstrate its commitment to protecting Nigerians and their investments and creating wealth for its shareholders, TTB recently offered the majority and minority shareholders of Union Bank an N7 per share premium Mandatory Takeover Offer (MTO), a gesture not common in the Nigerian banking industry.

Within a few months of the acquisition of Union Bank by the TGI Group, the retail lender is beginning to gain a lot of stability and also earn the confidence of the public following the emergence of a new leadership team that the group has assembled to make it a bank of the first choice for Nigerians in the very near future.

For Dr. Udensi, the organizers said the award was conferred on the quintessential banker in utmost recognition of her outstanding leadership, vision, impact, contributions, and accomplishments in the banking industry and the Nigerian economy.

The organizers specifically noted that “Dr. Udensi’s effortless grace in handling strategic and highly demanding portfolios, frequently by growing market share in emerging areas, fending off competition in crowded markets, or achieving stretch goals assigned by the board of directors, was second to none.

“She is a corporate exemplar who over the course of her career has consistently exercised transformative leadership in different roles and institutions. She has built a verifiable record of driving growth across all relevant KPIs, created sustainable new economic opportunities for the bank’s customers, and has also inspired a younger generation of bankers through her dedication, drive, and values.”

While receiving the award at the event, Dr. Udensi said: “I am humbled by this unique recognition. This will definitely spur me to work harder to create more impact in the finance sector through Titan Trust Bank which has broken many grounds since its entry into the fray a few years ago.”

It’s worthy of note that Dr. Udensi, alongside other senior management staff of Titan Trust Bank, was instrumental to the bank’s whirlwind record and its recent acquisition of 93.41 percent shareholding in 105-year-old Union Bank of Nigeria in barely three years of its establishment.

A naturally-gifted marketer and inspirational manager, Dr. Udensi also possesses a solid knack for the operational aspects of banking.

Since joining Titan Trust Bank, Dr. Udensi who has over 26 years of banking experience across all banking sectors, has shown great talent in scaling a start-up institution to become, without any shadow of a doubt, the leading new commercial bank in Africa’s largest economy.

BAFI Awards was established by Business Day Newspapers to identify and celebrate organizations, teams, and individuals that have achieved excellence in the delivery of financial services across banking, insurance, fintech, capital markets, markets infrastructure and technology, investment management, pension fund, trustees, registrars, stockbroking, private equity, and digital currencies.

An awards review committee made up of analysts and members of the BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU), evaluates and selects winners using parameters such as profitability, net interest margins (NIM), loan-to-asset ratios, cost-to-income ratios, non-performing loans (NPL), net asset value (NAV), share price performance, return on average asset, deposits, and loan growth, return on average equity (ROAE) amongst other financial and non-financial indices.

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