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Thu, Mar

CBN, AMCON Announce Sale Of Polaris Bank To SClI

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) have formally announced the completion of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the acquisition of 100 percent of the equity in Polaris Bank by Strategic Capital Investment Limited (‘SCIL’). This is happening even as the House of Representatives on Wednesday gave the go for the sale of Polaris Bank, noting that the acquisition followed the laid down procedure and the relevant presidential approval. The House had last week directed the CBN to suspend the planned sale of Polaris Bank. The Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the probe of the sale of Polaris Bank, Hon Henry Nwawuba, yesterday said at a briefing with reporters that investigations had shown there was nothing wrong with the process. Adding that there had been compliance with the process.


Among other reasons, for the suspension of the process, the House believed it was “shrouded in secrecy and is opaque and requires that it is done in transparency and accountability to eliminate insinuations of corruption”.

A statement issued by the Director, the Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, on behalf of the CBN and AMCON disclosed that SCIL had paid an upfront consideration of N50 billion to acquire 100% of the equity of Polaris Bank and had also accepted the terms of the agreement which include the full repayment of the sum of N1.305 trillion, being the consideration bonds injected.

According to the statement, “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.

“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 (3) 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,” the statement added.

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