The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) have formally announced the completion of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the acquisition of 100 per cent of the equity in Polaris Bank by Strategic Capital Investment Limited (‘SCIL’).
This is even as the House of Representatives on Wednesday okayed the sale of Polaris Bank, noting that the acquisition followed the laid down procedure and the relevant presidential approval. ‘
A statement issued by the director, of 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 N50billion to acquire 100 per cent 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.
Investors’ concerns about the financial institution’s status were allayed by committee chairman Hon. Henry Nwawuba provided confirmation of this during a news conference held at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Nwawuba revealed that the Ad-hoc Committee found evidence of significant compliance in this procedure when reviewing numerous papers and the ongoing regulatory process regarding the sale of the bank.
He claims that out of the 35 businesses invited to submit bids for the bank, the regulatory body selected 15 and then seven, receiving presidential approval to move forward with the sale of the bank in the process.
He said: “On the last legislative day before we broke up from plenary sessions to work on the budget, there was a motion on the floor asking the CBN to suspend the sale of Polaris Bank and cutting up an Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the circumstances, and I happened to have emerged to Chair that committee.
“The Committee has started work and we have looked at the documents and that is the beauty of investigations in Parliament. The beauty is that regardless of what comes on the floor, it is only when we look at the documents before us that we can get a clearer picture.
See Your View ladies’ reaction to this below!