KCB left as sole bidder for Imperial Bank acquisition

Imperial Bank is set to have a new anchor shareholder to lift it out of a close to three year receivership.

This as KCB Kenya has emerged as the lead investor to acquire Imperial Bank after other bidders withdrew from the deal.

Imperial Bank which has been under receivership since 2015 has had a complex resolution with shareholders at logger heads with the Central Bank and the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC).

But in a move that gives a ray of hope to depositors, the Central Bank is keen on engaging KCB on the best possible strategy to take up the bank.

“Having assessed the revised proposal, CBK and KDIC will engage KCB in discussions aimed at maximizing the value for depositors,” the regulator said in a statement.

The Central Bank has been tight lipped on the investors that put in bids for the Imperial Bank acquisition.

The regulator all considerations will be made to ensure depositors and creditors alike get the best deal from the deal.

“CBK and KDIC reiterate their commitment in keeping with their respective mandates and in accordance with the Laws of Kenya, to protect the interest of depositors, creditors, and the wider public interest,” reads part of the statement.

By the time of being placed under receivership, Imperial Bank had an estimated Ksh80 billion in customer deposits with mostly large depositors locked from accessing their funds.

The Central Bank had in 2016 appointed NIC Bank to carry out an exclusion and transfer to technically separate the “good bank” from the “bad bank which it concluded last year.

The potential acquisition by KCB Kenya could end the long standoff and give the large depositors, who have filed several cases, a ray of hope of accessing their funds.

“CBK and KDIC will provide further details to stakeholders at the appropriate time,” the regulators said.

Recently the Central Bank concluded the sale of Chase Bank to SBM Holdings which took up 75 percent of the bank’s assets and liabilities.

SBM is set to re-open the bank on August 20.

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imperial bank KCB banking chase bank Central Bank SBM Acquisition Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation assets liabilities depositors bid

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