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A top Nigerian Bank has just sold 100% of its shares after months of complications
Nigerian Bank Polaris, has sold 100% of its shares to a new owner.
The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Asset Management Company of Nigeria have officially announced the complete handover of 100% shares of Polaris Bank to Strategic Capital Investment Limited.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives approved the sale of the Bank on Wednesday after it was determined that the acquisition followed the laid down procedure and the relevant presidential approval.
The acquisition of the bank happened as a result of the bank failing to meet minimum capital requirements. For months now the CBN has been looking to sell the bank. The sale was investigated by rep members who had reservations about the bank’s operations.
After the authorization of sale by said lawmakers, Strategic Capital Investment Limited purchased the bank for N50 billion.
According to a statement released by the Director of the Corporate Communications Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Osita Nwanisobi, the terms of the agreement including the full repayment of the sum of N1.31tn, being the consideration bonds injected, had been met.
The statement released by the Central Bank elaborated on the process of the sale, and the terms and conditions that follow.
The statement partly reads. “The sale was coordinated by a Divestment Committee (the ‘Committee’) comprising representatives of the CBN and AMCON and advised by legal and financial consultants. The committee conducted a sale process by ‘private treaty, as provided in Section 34(5) of the AMCON Act to avoid negative speculations, retain value and preserve financial system stability.
In the process, parties who had formally expressed an interest in acquiring Polaris Bank, subsequent to the CBN intervention in 2018, were invited to submit financial and technical proposals. Invitations to submit proposals were sent to 25 pre-qualified interested parties, out of which three parties eventually submitted final purchase proposals following technical evaluation.”
The governor of the CBN lauded the acquisition and commended the outgoing board on its outstanding management. He stated, “the sale of the bank “marks the completion of a landmark intervention in a strategic institution in the Nigerian banking sector by the CBN and AMCON.”
As part of the CBN intervention, consideration bonds with a face value of N898bn (future value of N1.31tn) were injected into the bridge bank through AMCON, to be repaid over a 25-year period.
