AMCON begins process to sell Keystone Bank

Nigeria’s Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria
(AMCON) said on Monday that it is seeking
prospective investors to buy Keystone Bank.
Keystone is the last of the nationalised banks yet
to be sold.
AMCON said, in a public notice, that it had decided
to divest its 100 percent interest in the bank and
asked prospective buyers to submit their bids by
March 4.
AMCON appointed Citibank’s local unit and FBN
Capital as financial advisers to manage the
process, asking prospective investors to submit
bids, showing evidence of credibility and eligibility
for the transaction.
Nigeria nationalised three lenders, Afribank, Spring
Bank and Bank PHB in 2011, and AMCON
recapitalised them and changed their names to
Mainstreet Bank, Enterprise Bank and Keystone
Bank. Two of the banks have since been sold.
Based on audited account as of June last year,
Keystone bank has a total assets of about 317.6
billion naira ($1.60 billion), equity of 18.9 billion
naira and a loan portfolio of about 98.2 billion naira.
By December 31 2015, AMCON has 156 branches
across the country with four subsidiaries, of which
two are international.
Nigeria’s Sterling Bank told Reuters, at the
weekend, that it was aiming to buy one or two mid-
sized commercial lenders as sharp falls in the value
of the naira and increased regulatory pressure were
forcing banks to recapitalise.
AMCON was set up in 2010 to absorb non-
performing loans in exchange for government
bonds, after the central bank injected $4 billion to
rescue nine lenders from collapse seven years ago.