ANSA Merchant Bank Ltd (AMBL) has received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of T&T (CBTT) to proceed with the acquisition of the Bank of Baroda.
A filing on the T&T Securities and Exchange (TTSEC) website AMBL noted: “We hereby inform the Commission that the approval of the CBTT was granted on the November 20, 2020. We shall provide an update on the completion of the transaction following the fulfilment of the conditions precedent under the SPA.”
On December 11, 2019, AMBL announced the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shareholding of Bank of Baroda (T&T) Ltd by virtue of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) entered into by AMBL (an 82.5 per cent subsidiary of ANSA McAL Ltd) and Bank of Baroda (in India).
The AMBL advisory noted that the company was subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent under the SPA and the approval of the CBTT.
The approval granted by the CBTT and the subsequent fulfilment of the conditions precedent under the SPA would allow AMBL to do all aspects of commercial banking.
In its December 2019 advisory, AMBL Chairman A. Norman Sabga explained that under the agreement AMBL agreed to purchase 525,597 ordinary shares, representing 100 per cent of the total issued and outstanding shares held in the Bank of Baroda T&T Ltd.
He noted that BroadSpan Capital and Singhi Advisors were exclusive advisers to ANSA Merchant for the transaction.
Once the transaction was completed, Sabga had said that the “combined strengths of ANSA Merchant Bank Ltd and this commercial banking entity will greatly enhance the scope of the ANSA’s banking and financial services to include all aspects of retail banking, as well as corporate and investment banking services, asset financing, investment services and wealth management.”
Sabga had also noted that “the significant event is a natural evolution of our bank’s history.”
ANSA Merchant opened its doors forty years ago as a wholly indigenous bank.
Over the decades Sabga noted the bank had grown from strength to strength into a world class financial institution sustained by the cream of the financial services industry.
He added ANSA Merchant Bank remains enthusiastic about the prospects for the future and the many exciting opportunities the acquisition will offer to clients and citizens.
