Days after the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s (AMCON) announced Hertiage Bank as the preferred bidder to take over all the assests and liabilities of Enterprise Bank, the former last night paid 80 per cent of the N56 billion it offered for the bridge bank, a source told Naijalog.
We gathered from a reliable source that Heritage Bank transferred the money into AMCON’s escrow account at First Bank of Nigeria Limited, which was created temporarily for the transaction, in line with the terms of the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), just before the 12 midnight Thursday deadline.
However, when contacted on the telephone, AMCON’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Kayode Lambo could not confirm the payment, saying Heritage Bank had till 12 midnight today to make the payment.
“I can’t confirm the payment yet but I can tell you that Heritage Bank had till 12 midnight,” he said.
All things being equal a SPA will be signed and all Enterprise Bank branches across the country are expected to be rebranded in the next 15 days.
AMCON had on September 11 announced HBCL Investment Services Limited (HISL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) sponsored by Heritage Bank, as the preferred bidder for Enterprise Bank.
AMCON had explained that the process started with interest shown by 24 parties cutting across local and international boundaries. The emergence of HISL as preferred bidder had resulted from a rigorous and competitive bidding process, which was coordinated for AMCON by Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Vetiva Capital Management Limited (Financial Advisers) and G. Elias & Co. (Legal Advisers).
Heritage Bank commenced operations in March 2013. The deposit money bank was formed from the defunct Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN) and was granted a regional banking licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).