Tuesday, May 18, 2010

FIRST BANK DANGLES N60BILLION ON ETB ACQUISITION
The crisis in Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB) has taken another dimension after the initial N30 billion owners of ETB had agreed to pump into the bank. The crisis that started immediately after the banking reformation and when the business mogul, Dr. Mike Adenuga, the majority shareholder in ETB had decided to review his business plan away from banking and diversified into other core business areas such as telecommunications and oil and gas where he currently enjoys a competitive advantage, has led to First bank’s interest in the bank.
Those who should know revealed that First Bank now dangles N60 billion on the acquisition of ETB after a meeting with top officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and ETB with the conclusion that the buying bank would have to put in place at the ETB all payments to the original owners before total take over.
Impeccable sources added that First Bank has swung into action by employing the services of one of the leading auditing firms in the country, KPMG, to do due diligence study on ETB with a view to give an accurate valuation of the troubled bank.
When A&B made a call to confirm the authenticity of the story both First Bank and Equitorial Trust Bank never denied the story, but they said there is no directive yet for them to talk on the issue

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