Central Bank of Kenya is expected to pick up its preferred Chase Bank investor by Friday 23rd June.
This is according to sources close to the bank who reveal that investors are set to be introduced to the bank’s shareholders, investors and depositors to discuss on what next.
According to press statement released by the CBK in April investors were supposed to have submitted proposals by 9th of June and reports indicate that the short listing process is currently ongoing.
French Bank Societe General has remained top in the list of investors interested in Chase Bank.
The French bank which has a presence in several pillar economies in Africa including Ghana and South Africa is eyeing an entrance in the Kenyan market through an equity acquisition of the bank .
Other investors who have showed interest in the acquisition include Mauritius based SBM holdings, Kenyan banks I&M and KCB which was last year chosen to reopen the 62 branches of the troubled bank on behalf of the Kenya Deposit Insurance corporation.
However reports indicate that KCB could be forced to drop out as it is also looking to acquire the operations of the National Bank of Kenya.
SBM holdings on the other hand is looking to increase its equity in the Kenyan banking sector after successfully acquiring Kenya’s Fidelity bank in 2016.
The bank was placed under receivership in April 2016 by the CBK governor Patrick Njoroge following problems in liquidity.
Reports indicate that a sh 16.6B insider loan which had a high credit risk had exerted pressure on the banks liquidity.
Audit firm Deloitte East Africa which had earlier audited the banks financial statements for the year ended 2015 had produced reports insinuating the Bank did not disclose its full details during the auditing process.
This lead to months of social media campaigns and panics among depositors who rushed to make massive withdrawals further weakening its already troubled liquidity.
The investor picked will be expected to raise the troubled bank’s capital requirements at the CBK by injecting more capital.
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