REUTERS
Nigeria's Oceanic Bank has signed an agreement with its preferred bidder Eco Transnational Incorporated (ETI), paving the way for the rescued lender to recapitalise ahead of a central bank September deadline, the bank said on Monday.
Oceanic is on track to recapitalising ahead of the deadline after going through an extensive negotiating process before selecting ETI, chief executive John Aboh said in a statement.
Banking sources said ETI will implement the transaction through a share exchange.
ETI is the parent firm to Ecobank which has operations in 25 countries and said two weeks ago its was seeking significant stake in Ghana's Trust Bank.
Oceanic Bank was one of nine lenders rescued in a $4 billion bailout by the central bank in 2009. The regulator has given the rescued banks until September to recapitalise or face effective nationalisation or liquidation.
AMCON, a state-owned "bad bank" which was set up last year to absorb non-performing loans from the banking sector in exchange for government bonds, is meant to restore the shareholders fund of rescued lenders to zero before new investors can bring them to minimum capital levels. |