The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said on Monday it was seeking prospective investors to buy Keystone Bank, as it has resolved to divest its 100 percent interest in the bank. According to the notice, everyone interested has until March 4 to submit their bid for the now stabilized bank.
AMCON was established in July 2010 to be a key stabilizing and re-vitalizing tool for the revival of Nigeria’s financial system by efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of the banks in the Nigerian economy.
In line with its mandate, the corporation took over three failing Nigerian banks – Afribank, Spring Bank, Bank PHB – after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revoked their operating licences because ‘they did not show enough capacity and ability for recapitalization’. The CBN, through the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), therefore, established Bridge Banks: Mainstreet Bank, Enterprise Bank and Keystone Bank, and transferred the assets and liabilities of the three affected banks to them.
AMCON acquired the Bridge Banks from the NDIC and injected N679 billion ($3.4 billion) into them to enable them meet the minimum capital requirement of N25 billion and the 15 percent minimum capital adequacy ratio.
After years of stability, AMCON sold Enterprise Bank and Mainstreet Bank to Nigerian lenders Heritage Bank Limited and Skye Bank Plc. Now, it wants to sell Keystone bank as it seeks to recoup its investment.
Keystone bank has a total assets of about N317.6 billion ($1.60 billion), equity of N18.9 billion naira and a loan portfolio of about 98.2 billion naira, as contained in the bank’s audited account as of June last year.
The ‘bad bank’ has appointed Citibank Nigeria Limited and FBN Capital as financial advisers to manage the process.
