The sale of The Trust Bank (TTB) Ghana Limited to Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has been put on hold, CITY & Business Guide can confirm.
This comes after several pressure groups expressed worry about the sale of the indigenous bank and urged President John Evans Atta Mills to personally intervene in the matter.
Reports suggest the Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, whose ministry is responsible for the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), a majority shareholder of TTB, has suspended Ecobank’s takeover of TTB.
The paper learnt that Dr. Duffuor called for the suspension of the acquisition process, taking a cue from what happened when the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration planned to sell the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) to Stanbic Bank.
The finance minister is expected to listen to the complaints put across by the various interest groups before a decision is taken.
Meanwhile, the committee set up by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to oversee the proposed acquisition of TTB by ETI, would continue its work despite the suspension of the merger process.
The date, time and venue for the hearing are yet to be announced by the panel to the interest groups.
The panel, made up of eminent persons including a retired senior banker, distinguished legal practitioner and financial expert in mergers and acquisitions, is expected to provide a platform for interested parties to discuss the issues.
The Central Bank, in a statement, said it decided to set up the panel following the public discussion of the proposed merger of TTB and Ecobank Ghana.
According to the regulator of the banking sector, it is committed to ensuring that mergers do not limit competition but inure to the benefit of the country’s economy, particularly the banking system.
Members of the public, including employees, shareholders and customers of the two banks, economic think tanks and recognized bodies, have been invited to submit memoranda on the issue to the panel.
SSNIT has 61.14 percent stake in the TTB while Ghana Re-Insurance Co Ltd has 9.36 percent shares and the Africa Tiger Mutual Fund, 6.0 percent stake.
Other shareholders are FMO, The Netherlands development finance company, which holds 10 percent and COFIPA, Compagnie Africaine de Financement et de Participation which has 13.50 percent.
Source: Charles Nixon Yeboah
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