UCB tower is ours, says Stanbic
THE South African-owned Stanbic Bank which bought 80% shares in Uganda Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) said yesterday the Government has no stake in the 16-storey UCBL towers now on sale.
By Felix Osike and John Odyek
THE South African-owned Stanbic Bank which bought 80% shares in Uganda Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) said yesterday the Government has no stake in the 16-storey UCBL towers now on sale.
Managing director Kitili Mbathi said they own the building on Kampala Road and they will not bow to pressure from five MPs who have secured a court injunction to block the tower’s sale.
“The Bank was sold and the building was part of the assets sold. We have a right to sell it,†Mbathi said. He said they would prove their case.
The MPs said the building was not one of the assets bought by the bank. Finance minister Gerald Ssendaula, who signed the sale agreement, yesterday declined to comment. “I don’t interfere with matters before courts,†he said.
Mbathi said, “Initially the building was not part of the asset we were interested in. However, by the time the negotiations for sale were concluded, the building was part of what we bought.â€
In the purchase bid forms, Stanbic requested to exclude the purchase of the head office building (city branch and corporate branch), the Nkrumah Road office branch, non-core real estate and staff loans from the deal.
The documents were submitted to the Bank of Uganda who were responsible for the sale. The first amendment to the sale agreement dated 20 December, 2001 said, “The seller hereby agrees to sell, assign, transfer and deliver back to the company from seller all the assets, liabilities and business of the company as a going concern and in the consideration for such sale and transfer the buyer agrees to pay the seller US$19,550,000.â€
The agreement provided for the exclusion of certain assets and liabilities listed in ‘Annex A’ and listed above. No UCBL branches would be closed before two years elapsed. The Government owns 10% of the merged bank.
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THE South African-owned Stanbic Bank which bought 80% shares in Uganda Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) said yesterday the Government has no stake in the 16-storey UCBL towers now on sale.
Managing director Kitili Mbathi said they own the building on Kampala Road and they will not bow to pressure from five MPs who have secured a court injunction to block the tower’s sale.
“The Bank was sold and the building was part of the assets sold. We have a right to sell it,†Mbathi said. He said they would prove their case.
The MPs said the building was not one of the assets bought by the bank. Finance minister Gerald Ssendaula, who signed the sale agreement, yesterday declined to comment. “I don’t interfere with matters before courts,†he said.
Mbathi said, “Initially the building was not part of the asset we were interested in. However, by the time the negotiations for sale were concluded, the building was part of what we bought.â€
In the purchase bid forms, Stanbic requested to exclude the purchase of the head office building (city branch and corporate branch), the Nkrumah Road office branch, non-core real estate and staff loans from the deal.
The documents were submitted to the Bank of Uganda who were responsible for the sale. The first amendment to the sale agreement dated 20 December, 2001 said, “The seller hereby agrees to sell, assign, transfer and deliver back to the company from seller all the assets, liabilities and business of the company as a going concern and in the consideration for such sale and transfer the buyer agrees to pay the seller US$19,550,000.â€
The agreement provided for the exclusion of certain assets and liabilities listed in ‘Annex A’ and listed above. No UCBL branches would be closed before two years elapsed. The Government owns 10% of the merged bank.
Ends