An influential Saudi prince may pip the State Bank of India (SBI) and other bidders to buy 67 per cent shares of Bangladesh's state-owned Rupali Bank, with a possible offer of $400 million.
DHAKA: An influential Saudi prince may pip the State Bank of India (SBI) and other bidders to buy 67 per cent shares of Bangladesh's state-owned Rupali Bank, with a possible offer of $400 million.
The Saudi delegation, on behalf of Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saudi, indicated its offer at meetings with the Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor, Privatisation Commission chairperson and the finance secretary in the last two days, The Daily Star reported.
"They want to start investing in Bangladesh through Rupali Bank and gradually expand to other sectors," Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the Saudi team.
They also showed interest in investing around $6 billion in the tourism and energy sectors as well as oil refineries and hospitality services in Bangladesh, sources said.
Seven companies from home and abroad, including that of the Saudi prince, have been short-listed by the Privatisation Commission as potential buyers.
They are India's SBI, Sabrie Capital Worldwide Ltd of Oman, Bank Muscat of Oman, Maa International Investment Ltd of Malaysia, JJ Finance Ltd of Britain and a group comprising Domestic Investors Consortium, Summit Industrial and Mercantile Corporation (Pvt) Ltd Bangladesh, National Housing Finance and Investment Ltd, and FMO Netherlands Development Finance Company who sent a joint expression of interest (EoI).
The commission on May 7 approved the EoIs submitted by the companies for taking over Rupali Bank.
There is no final word. The chosen parties will submit their original price offers on Aug 8.
A member of the Saudi delegation said they were of the view that Rupali Bank would be a profitable venture as it had a strong network of branches even in remote areas of the country.
The governor of Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank, told the Saudi delegation that there was no obstruction to profit repatriation at present and also no risk as there was a surplus of current accounts balance.
Rupali is Bangladesh's second largest bank and is the first one being taken up for offloading of shares in the private/foreign market. The Bangladesh government owns 94 per cent of the shares and has offered 67 per cent for sale.
Rupali Bank's total assets, as showed in December 2005, were $1.07 billion and it has over 493 branches across the country.
After taxes and provisions, the foreign banks' net profit in FY05 was $352 million, a Privatisation Commission source said. Nine foreign banks operate in Bangladesh with 41 branches and their total assets stand at $2.11 billion.
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