M Azizur Rahman
Local conglomerate Summit Group has bought majority stake in the ICB Islamic Bank with an undisclosed amount, its officials said Thursday.
Summit, one of the country's fastest growing groups, signed the purchase document Thursday, snapping up 53.05 per cent stake in the bank held by a Malaysian entrepreneur.
Officials did not disclose the value of the deal as both the bank and the flagship company of Summit are listed ventures, which are barred from publishing price sensitive information without the regulator's approval.
"We've bought the bank close to its market price," said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The acquisition underlines Summit's new found strength after its subsidiaries won two rental power plants and unveiled new plans to add 1,000 megawatt power to the national grid.
ICB Islamic Bank made a formal announcement of the deal, saying its Malaysian-owned Swiss-based ICB Financial Group Holdings AG, has sold off its entire stake to five of Summit's subsidiaries.
It said the deal is "subject to the necessary regulatory formalities and approval in compliance with the laws of Bangladesh."
The ailing lender was formerly known as Oriental Bank before it bankrupted on mountain of bad debts. It was sold off to a Malaysian-led group of foreign investors in 2007.
The bank is still under the central bank's red book as it continued to bleed since it started operation under the new management in May 2008.
It posted net loss of Tk2.06 billion with negative earning per share of Tk310.25 in the year ended on December 31, 2009.
It also reported negative net asset value per share of Tk. 667.86 and net operating cash flow per share of Tk. 81.34 during the same year.
Officials said among the five Summit subsidiaries: Summit Industrial Mercantile Company will have 19.99 per cent, Cosmopolitan Traders 10.85 pc, Alliance Holding 10 pc, Shore Cap Holdings 5.28 per cent and Summit Alliance Port 3.73 pc.
Stock prices of both ICB Islamic Bank and most of Summit's listed firms have been rising strongly in the past couple of weeks amid speculation that the companies were close to a deal.
Share price of the ICB Islamic Bank, jumped around 50 per cent since May 20 -- when the company traded at Tk 1,050 per share -- to over Tk 1,491 on June 3.
On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - the capital market regulator - ordered probe into what it says unusual trading of the bank's shares in the bourses.
Summit Power, the flagship company of the group bearing its name, rose more than three per cent on Thursday, closing at Tk1,423 per share.
The company is the country's largest private power producer and its market capitalization is now worth around one billion dollars.
Aziz Khan his brothers, sisters and their children own majority stake in Summit Group.