Fifteen months after the bid for the sale of Enterprise Bank, formerly Spring Bank, the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has announced Heritage Banking Company Limited as the successful bidder for the bank.
Although the amount of the transaction was yet to be made known, AMCON in a statement made available last night announced Heritage Bank, former Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, as the preferred bidder over Fidelity Bank and 22 other interested investors.
Heritage Bank bought the bank under its investment subsidiary, HBCL Investment Services Limited and would now acquire the entire issued and fully paid up ordinary shares of Enterprise Bank Limited, following the approval of the board of directors of AMCON.
However, the completion of the deal is subject to the execution of the share purchase agreement between AMCON and HISL and in e event that HISL cannot fulfill its side of the deal, Fidelity Bank as the reserve bidder would step in as the preferred bidder.
The statement by AMCON noted that the emergence of HISL and Fidelity Bank as the preferred and reserve bidders respectively resulted from a rigorous and competitive bidding process, coordinated by its financial and legal advisers, Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Vetiva Capital Management Limited and G. Elias & Co.
Enterprise Bank commenced operation in August, 2011, as a full-service commercial bank with a national banking license, after it was nationalized and acquired by AMCON. The Bank operates via a sizeable distribution network of over 160 branches spread across major markets and commercial centres in Nigeria, and with over 177 ATMs, 57 Cash Centres and 2,000 POS terminals. 