AMCON Plans To Sell Former Skye Bank To New Investor

Nigeria has concluded plans to put for sale former Skye Bank, renamed Polaris Bank last year by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) after it was taken over by the government-backed corporation.
According to AMCON, Polaris Bank will be sold to new investors after the forthcoming general election in a bid to divest government interest in the financial institution.
Nigeria’s “bad bank” had taken over the lender last year after the bank’s shareholders failed to recapitalize and restructure the troubled lender.
“The election season has slowed down things,” Jude Nwauzor, spokesman for Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said.
He noted that the corporation is taking stock of the assets of the lender and would call for bids for the company as a prelude to offloading its stake to new core investor.
“We would advertise for expressions of interest from investors after elections and commence the sale process,” Nwauzor said.
Some of Nigeria’s banks have faced tough times since low oil prices put pressure on their business of lending to the oil and gas industry. The country emerged from a recession in 2017 but economic growth remains sluggish and this has weighed on credit growth.
Polaris Bank was a bridge bank set up last year by AMCON to take over the assets of Skye Bank after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revoked its licence
AMCON has previously sold three other nationalised banks.
The AMCON spokesman said the bad bank was seeking to recover debts owed to Polaris that were non-performing and had asked for proposals on repayment.
AMCON was set up in 2010 to take on non-performing loans from banks as part of the country’s efforts to resolve a financial crisis at that time.