Why we sold Polaris Bank to SCIL – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said the choice of the Strategic Capital Investment Limited as the preferred bidder for the Polaris Bank was transparent and followed due process.

It noted that the divestment from Polaris Bank was an institutional decision that was thoroughly supervised.

The apex bank in October 2022 announced the sale of Polaris Bank to Strategic Capital Investment Limited (SCIL), four years after the government took over Skye Bank.

The bank was later renamed and over N1 trillion was subsequently injected into the bank.

The bank had announced SCIL as the preferred bidder for the lender after it completed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the acquisition of 100 per cent of the equity in Polaris Bank.

Since the acquisition plan was completed, there have been reports alleging subversion of due process in the divestment process.

In a statement signed on Wednesday by the spokesperson of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, the apex bank said it felt the need to clear the air on the divestment process following a “spurious, malicious, and misleading” online publication.

“Contrary to claims in the aforementioned online publication, the divestment from Polaris Bank was supervised by a Divestment Committee (Committee) comprising senior representatives of AMCON & CBN and supported by reputable legal and financial advisers.

“In addition, the divestment mode, process and decision received requisite board and regulatory approvals.”

The statement said that no other party made a higher purchase offer as alleged by the publication.

“The entity in question, Fairview Acquisition Partners, had indicated an interest in acquiring two banks, including Polaris Bank, for a total sum of N1.2 trillion, an indicative offer which significantly discounted the existing N1.305 trillion debt owed by Polaris Bank to AMCON and so represented a material loss to the Federal Government.

“Notwithstanding, along with twenty-four (24) other parties, Fairview Acquisition Partners was invited by the financial advisors to participate in the sale process via the execution of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), the first stage of the process.

“The financial advisors informed the Committee that Fairview Acquisition Partners neither executed nor returned the NDA despite verbally confirming receipt of the agreement and after follow-up from the financial advisors.

“Therefore, Fairview Acquisition Partners did not take the opportunity to update their offer by participating in the divestment process and thus did not make a binding purchase offer for Polaris Bank.”