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Thursday, November 14, 2024

Liberia Central Bank Sells Nigerian Lender In Deal Involving a Failed Bank

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By Festus Poquie

The Central Bank of Liberia has confirmed the sale of Global Bank Liberia Limited, a subunit of defiant Nigerian lender Keystone to a Ghanaian firm in a deal lacking clear terms on financing.

The Central Bank statement did not disclose the sales price, bidding information or any financial details. It also didn’t say who owns the investment firm buying the bank and why the divesture was kept secret. Phone calls to Bank officials did not connect.

“On January 11, 2023, the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) approved the divestment of the ownership of Global Bank Liberia Limited (GBLL) from Keystone Bank, Nigeria to Oakwood Africa Investment Limited (OAIL),” it said.

“With this divestment, OAIL has taken 100 percent equity ownership of GBLL.

The company plans to mobilize and infuse fresh financial resources into Global bank.”

Global Bank has experienced at least three takeovers since its establishment in 2005, occasioned by successive collapse of varying European and Nigerian parent companies

Keystone Bank was one of three banks nationalized following a $4 billion central bank bailout that saved several lenders from near bankruptcy in 2009.

The Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) nationalized and sold Keystone Bank to a consortium of local investors called Sigma Golf Nigeria Limited and Riverbank Investment Resources in 2017.

Doubt lingers why Sigma Golf did not play a role in the sale of the Monrovia based lender it owns rather the Central Bank dealing with a default bank.

 

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