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31.10.2013 Business & Finance

Merchant Bank Sale Reaches Final Stages

By Daily Guide
Merchant Bank Sale Reaches Final Stages
31.10.2013 LISTEN

Citi Business News has gathered that majority shareholder of Merchant bank, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has finally chosen a buyer for the bank.

The new buyer; Fortiz was one of the three companies shortlisted a couple of months back as likely candidates to take over the bank.

Fortiz is a wholly owned Ghanaian company made up of a group of investors in the banking and real estate sectors.

Sources familiar with the deal say the bank which was put up for sale again in July this year after its acquisition deal with First Rand Bank of South Africa fell through is likely to complete the sale transaction of the bank by the end of this week.

Parties involved in the transaction remain tight lipped over the deal but Citi Business News has learnt the bank is being offered for GHC 140 million. 

With GHC 90 million of this amount expected to be paid this year and the remainder by October next year. 

It is not clear how the purchase transaction will treat Merchant Bank's heavy portfolio of unpaid loans on their balance sheet, an issue that was a major factor in the failed attempt by South Africa's First Rand Bank to take over the bank.

Source: Citifmonline

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