SBM makes offer to buy some Chase Bank assets

Mauritius’s SBM Holdings has made a binding offer for some of the assets and liabilities of Kenya’s Chase Bank, the Kenyan central bank said on Friday.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has been seeking a strategic investor for Chase, which has been under receivership since April 2016 after failing to meet its financial obligations.

CBK has not specified the size of the stake it plans to sell.

“The binding offer, accepted on 4 January 2018, includes the acquisition of certain assets and matched liabilities from CBLR,” the central bank said in a statement.

“It is expected that this transaction will inter alia ensure the transfer of 75 percent of the value of deposits currently under moratorium and the transfer of staff and branches of the existing CBLR operations.”

Chase is in the hands of the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation, a state body that protects depositors in case of bank failure.

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Last year, CBK said 12 parties – including local and foreign banks – had shown interest in the bank, which has no relations with JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Financial services group SBM Holdings said last year that it was bidding to buy a stake in Chase Bank, which would expand its presence in Kenya.

In November 2016, it acquired Kenya’s Fidelity Bank for a token payment of Ksh 100 (US$0.97) and said it would inject Ksh 1.45 billion of fresh capital into it.