Strategic Capital Investment Limited Buys Polaris Bank For N50 Billion

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Mary Ugwuanyi

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, have announced the sale of Polaris Bank to Strategic Capital Investment Limited, SCIL.

SCIL acquired 100 percent of the equity in the bank.

CBN

The House of Representatives ratified the acquisition on Wednesday, stating that the purchase was in accordance with stipulated procedure and the needed presidential approval.  

Osita Nwanisobi, the Director of Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, in a statement issued on behalf of the apex bank and AMCON stated that “SCIL had paid an upfront consideration of N50 billion to acquire 100 percent of the equity of Polaris Bank and had also accepted the terms of the agreement which includes the full repayment of the sum of N1.305 trillion, being the consideration bonds injected”.

The statement added, “the CBN thus received an immediate return for the value it has created in Polaris Bank during the stabilisation period, as well as ensuring that all funds originally provided to support the intervention are recovered”.

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“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.

“All submissions were subject to a rigorous transaction process from which SCIL emerged as the preferred bidder having presented the most comprehensive technical/financial purchase proposal as well as the highest rated growth plans for Polaris Bank.”

Source: Nation

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