Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria has sold Polaris Bank to Strategic Capital Investment Ltd (SCIL).
The notice of sale was made known in a statement signed by Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, Director, Corporate Communications and posted on CBN website on Thursday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Polaris has been operating as a bridge bank since 2018 when the CBN intervened and revoked the licence of the former Skye Bank Plc.
The statement further states that SCIL paid an upfront consideration of N50 billion to acquire 100 per cent of the equity of Polaris Bank.
SCIL also accepted the terms of the agreement, which included the full repayment of the sum of N1.305 trillion, being the consideration bonds injected.
It said, “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.”
