Oriental bidding documents to be sent to six buyers this week
Sunday, 9 December 2007
FE Report
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is likely to send tender documents on sale of nearly 60 per cent share of troubled Oriental Bank Limited to six potential buyers by the end of this week.
A draft bidding document has already been prepared by concerned department of the central bank and the document is now lying with legal experts of the BB for vetting.
"We are hopeful about sending the bidding documents to the investors by the end of this week," a BB senior official told the FE Saturday.
He also said that the central bank would give the investors three weeks time to submit their tender documents from the date of receiving bidding papers.
Sources, however, said the central bank will form a high-powered committee comprising experts from different organisations to evaluate the tender documents after receiving them from the interested parties.
The committee will recommend one investor after examination of the entire bidding document on purchase of Tk 4.0 billion worth of shares of the Shariah-based private commercial bank.
The six investors - three foreign and three local - have already completed their due diligence to know overall position of the bank.
The local parties are BRAC Bank Limited, Summit Industrial & Mercantile Corporation (Pvt.) Limited and Domestic Investors Consortium, a forum comprising local commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions.
The foreign interested companies are the United Kingdom-based East Invest Private Equity Limited, ICB Financial Group Holdings of Switzerland and Hatton National Bank of Sri Lankan.
The Oriental Bank that suffered a severe financial crisis was taken over by the central bank on June 19, 2006 to protect the depositors' interest. The BB appointed an administrator to run the bank temporarily.
On August 6, 2006 the central bank ordered the removal of the managing director of the bank and suspended the board of directors for a period of one year.
The central bank has planned to complete the implementation of a restructuring scheme after installing a new management of the bank by January 25, 2008.
Under the scheme, approved by the government earlier, the paid-up capital of the bank will reach Tk 7.0 billion while the general shareholders, including its depositors, will hold Tk 3.0 billion in terms of shares. Each share will have a face value of Tk 1000.
On June 27 last, the government extended the moratorium period for certain banking activities for six more months to protect depositors' interest and facilitate its restructuring.
On January 25 last, the finance ministry imposed a six-month moratorium restricting withdrawal of cash above Tk 10,000 by the depositors. In the case of new accounts, there was no restriction on withdrawal of money during the period.
The Oriental Bank Limited started its operation on May 20, 1987 under the name of Al Baraka Bank Bangladesh Limited.
The bank is now running its business through 30 branches across the country, where a total of 713 employees are engaged at different levels.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is likely to send tender documents on sale of nearly 60 per cent share of troubled Oriental Bank Limited to six potential buyers by the end of this week.
A draft bidding document has already been prepared by concerned department of the central bank and the document is now lying with legal experts of the BB for vetting.
"We are hopeful about sending the bidding documents to the investors by the end of this week," a BB senior official told the FE Saturday.
He also said that the central bank would give the investors three weeks time to submit their tender documents from the date of receiving bidding papers.
Sources, however, said the central bank will form a high-powered committee comprising experts from different organisations to evaluate the tender documents after receiving them from the interested parties.
The committee will recommend one investor after examination of the entire bidding document on purchase of Tk 4.0 billion worth of shares of the Shariah-based private commercial bank.
The six investors - three foreign and three local - have already completed their due diligence to know overall position of the bank.
The local parties are BRAC Bank Limited, Summit Industrial & Mercantile Corporation (Pvt.) Limited and Domestic Investors Consortium, a forum comprising local commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions.
The foreign interested companies are the United Kingdom-based East Invest Private Equity Limited, ICB Financial Group Holdings of Switzerland and Hatton National Bank of Sri Lankan.
The Oriental Bank that suffered a severe financial crisis was taken over by the central bank on June 19, 2006 to protect the depositors' interest. The BB appointed an administrator to run the bank temporarily.
On August 6, 2006 the central bank ordered the removal of the managing director of the bank and suspended the board of directors for a period of one year.
The central bank has planned to complete the implementation of a restructuring scheme after installing a new management of the bank by January 25, 2008.
Under the scheme, approved by the government earlier, the paid-up capital of the bank will reach Tk 7.0 billion while the general shareholders, including its depositors, will hold Tk 3.0 billion in terms of shares. Each share will have a face value of Tk 1000.
On June 27 last, the government extended the moratorium period for certain banking activities for six more months to protect depositors' interest and facilitate its restructuring.
On January 25 last, the finance ministry imposed a six-month moratorium restricting withdrawal of cash above Tk 10,000 by the depositors. In the case of new accounts, there was no restriction on withdrawal of money during the period.
The Oriental Bank Limited started its operation on May 20, 1987 under the name of Al Baraka Bank Bangladesh Limited.
The bank is now running its business through 30 branches across the country, where a total of 713 employees are engaged at different levels.