Republic Bank says it is doing everything possible to resolve the dispute between it and HFC Bank.<\/p>\n
Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Republic Bank, Jacqueline Quamina, told <\/span>Citi News,<\/strong>\u00a0“‘Litigation is very complex, lengthy and an expensive process [that should be avoided]. We must work together for the betterment of HFC.”<\/span><\/p>\n There have been fierce resistance from some shareholders of HFC bank, including the Managing Director over Republic bank’s move to take over HFC bank.<\/p>\n Republic Bank Limited; an independent Caribbean bank bought its first shares in HFC bank in 2012.<\/p>\n It purchased 8.79% shares in HFC Bank Ghana for an amount of $8 million in December, 2012 under a private placement.<\/p>\n Republic Bank\u2019s stake further increased to 32.02 percent after buying 23.23 percent additional shares which was previously held by Aureos Africa Fund LLC.<\/p>\n It further acquired 7.98 percent additional shares last year from Union Bank of Nigeria which increased its [Republic Bank] share to the current 40 percent.<\/p>\n Republic Bank in line with the Securities and Exchanges Commission Code on ‘Takeovers and Mergers’ in the second quarter of 2013 was required to make an offer to all shareholders of HFC Bank after it became the largest shareholder of the bank with 32 percent stake at the time.<\/p>\n The bank applied for a waiver from the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an exemption from the requirement to make a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares in HFC Bank.<\/p>\n SEC however, rejected the application by Republic Bank to be exempted from taking over HFC Bank.<\/p>\n But there are reports that HFC may be heading to court to challenge the SEC’s code on takeovers and mergers.<\/p>\n HFC believes there was a breach of procedure in the execution of the SEC’s code on takeovers and mergers and will be challenging the sale of some of the shares that were sold to Republic bank.<\/p>\n But Jacqueline Quamina speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/b> on Tuesday said the bank went through the right process in acquiring the shares.<\/p>\n ”The regulatory system in Ghana has a process which is fair and it’s the same in most countries. It states that where you have more than 30 percent you trigger a code and it\u2019s for that reason give smaller shareholders the chance to exit. So why should we interfere by going to court, it’s unfair; we must allow the shareholders to make up their minds,” she said.<\/p>\n Jacqueline Quamina also downplayed fears that Republic bank may embark on a retrenchment exercise if it takes over HFC bank.<\/p>\n ”We can assure the staff and management [of HFC] that they are safe and secure. We are operators and we cannot destroy an institution that we are investing in. We may be having a dispute but we will resolve this and in the process we will not do anything to destroy the bank,” she assured the general public.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By:\u00a0 Vivian Kai Mensah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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