TheCable

After a long-drawn-out battle for the acquisition of Enterprise Bank Limited, Heritage Investment Services Limited (HISL), a subsidiary of Heritage Bank PLC, has finally acquired the nationalised financial bank for an undisclosed sum.

A senior official at Heritage Bank who did not want to be named confirmed to TheCable that HISL had completed the acquisition of Enterprise bank and now owns 100 per cent stake of the bank.

Although the amount of money paid for the acquisition was not disclosed, the sale of SME-focused Enterprise Bank is worth billions of Naira.

HISL acquisition of Enterprise Bank was sponsored by Heritage Banking Company Limited.

This report validates a statement released by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on Thursday identifying HISL as the preferred bidder and Fidelity Bank as the reserved bidder for the Enterprise Bank bid.

In financial terms, the reserved bidder takes over the acquisition of the bank if the highest bidder cannot meet payment and other regulatory consideration, which includes the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA).

The acquisition process of Enterprise Bank started with interest shown by 24 parties cutting across local and international bidders. The bidders were eventually cut down to seven, two of which eventually dropped out of the bidding process.

Fidelity Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Heritage Bank were among the five shortlisted banks contending to buy Enterprise Bank.

Formerly known as Spring Bank, Enterprise Bank was one of the three nationalised banks created after the 2009 banking crisis. The other banks were Bank PHB and Afribank, which are now known as Keystone Bank and Mainstreet Bank respectively.

While AMCON completed the sale of Keystone Bank this year, it is set to complete the acquisition process of Mainstreet Bank by October 31, 2014.

The Enterprise Bank bidding process was coordinated for AMCON by Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Vetiva Capital Management Limited (Financial Advisers) and G. Elias & Co. (Legal Advisers).