Republic Bank Limited, the largest commercial bank in Trinidad & Tobago, has said it is not interested in selling its 65.13 per cent shares to the Barbados National Bank (BNB)."Republic Bank affirms that BNB is of strategic value to the bank's Pan Caribbean strategy and that it has no interest in selling the Barbados-based subsidiary," the bank said in the release, adding that to date it has not received any offers to purchase its shares.
Last week Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson announced that his administration is interested in discussions with the Trinidad and Tobago government "to seek to repurchase our shareholding in BNB at the earliest opportunity".
The previous Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration sold 57 per cent of shares in the local bank to RBL in 2003. RBL subsequently acquired additional shares, increasing its shareholding to 65.13 per cent.
The Trinidad and Tobago government currently has control of 55 per cent of Republic's shares under the terms of an agreement with the financially strapped CL Financial, which had majority interest in the bank. The takeover of Republic's is part of the arrangements to bail out three CL companies, including CL Bank, which has been closed and its shares transferred to the state-owned First Citizens bank.
Other financial institutions are interested in Republic, including CIBC, one of Canada's largest charted banks which has strong business interests in the Caribbean.
Former Finance Minister, Wendell Mottley, who is an investment banker with Credit Suisse in New York, met Friday with Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira.
While there is speculation that Credit Suisse has a keen interest in Republic, Nunez-Tesheira described Mottley's visit as a routine one and declined comment on whether the former cabinet minister wanted to discuss the issue of CL Financial’s 55 per cent shareholding in Republic.
It is common knowledge that Republic shares are in high demand. Central Bank governor Ewart Williams acknowledged Friday that many investment bankers find the block of Republic Bank shares attractive because of the bank’s results.
He said Mottley visited the Central Bank some time ago with a team, adding that a lot of people are lining up to get the shares.
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