The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has sold troubled Keystone Bank to new owners, Sigma Golf Nigeria Limited and Riverbank Investment
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has sold troubled Keystone Bank to new owners, Sigma Golf Nigeria Limited and Riverbank Investment Resources Limited (the Sigma Golf-Riverbank Consortium). The consortium has been linked to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Umar Modibbo.
However the new owners were said not to have participated in the bidding process for Keystone Bank raising concerns AMCON may have breached due process. For this, some stakeholders are worried the bank would now be controlled by northern interests.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to AMCON, approved the sale. The completion of the transaction is subject to the fulfillment of the conditions precedent as stated in the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement executed between AMCON and the consortium.
Keystone Bank was incorporated by the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation on August 3, 2011 following the revocation of the license of Bank PHB by the CBN. As of April 2016, Keystone Bank had staff strength of 1,753 employees, network of 154 branches, nine cash centres and 315 Automated Teller Machines.
