Nigeria's Access Bank said on Sunday it would merge with local peer Intercontinental Bank , one of nine lenders rescued in a $4 billion central bank bailout 18 months ago.

Access Bank Chief Executive Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede told reporters the two institutions were a perfect match but gave no details on the terms of the deal, which still needs approval from the central bank and Securities and Exchange Commission.

"These are two organisations that share potential synergies and are very complimentary, in terms of what is strong in one is not strong in the other," Aig-Imoukhuede said.

"This is an ideal ground for a value-adding business combination," he said.

Intercontinental was established in 1989 as a pure merchant bank and converted to commercial banking just over a decade later. It grew to become a major player in sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy, at one point being the country's largest bank by Tier 1 capital.

At the end of last year, its shares were 86 percent free float and 14 percent held by the directors.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi won international praise for the 2009 bailout and efforts to sanitise the banking system, which was dangerously close to collapse.

The removal of several bank chiefs, including former Intercontinental chief executive Erastus Akingbola, for lax oversight and reckless lending sent shockwaves through a corporate elite which had grown used to impunity.

But uncertainty over how the crisis would be resolved has meant credit flows have not fully recovered and has kept some investors shy of once stellar Nigerian banking stocks.

Intercontinental is the second of the rescued lenders to announce an agreement with new investors after Union Bank said late on Tuesday it had agreed a $750 million deal with a consortium led by the African Capital Alliance private equity firm.

Sanusi has said a third bank will announce a recapitalisation deal this week.

Rescued lenders Afribank , Bank PHB , Finbank and Oceanic Bank have also held talks with potential investors in recent months.

Banking sources have said a consortium involving private equity group Vine Capital has signed a deal with Afribank, although neither party has yet confirmed a deal.

Nigeria's Access Bank to merge with Intercontinental.