The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Six local and international firms submited Expression of Interest (EoI) to buy the problem-ridden Oriental Bank on the last day of submission of bid on Sunday.

The firms are: NGO-BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Agricultural Development), Summit Group, Domestic Consortium, Switzerland-based ICB Global Finance Group Holdings AG, Sri Lanka-based Hatol National Bank and UK-based East Invest Private Equity Limited.

They have submited EoI to participate in the bidding process initiated by Bangladesh Bank.

Official sources said the central bank would evaluate their track records, financial capability and other issues to ascertain the capacity to take over the Oriental Bank.

If the firms come out as responsive bidders in the EoI submission stage, the central bank will ask them to submit their final financial and technical offer under the bidding process.

The Oriental Bank is now operating under an administrative arrangement by the central bank, which recently invited the interested parties to submit their EoIs by September 23 along with their track financial and technical records of running a financial institution.

After a serious financial and liquidity crisis, the central bank dissolved the bank's board of directors, sacked its managing director and appointed an administrator to run the bank for the time being. The central bank had announced a bailout scheme on August 2 to sell 57 percent share of Oriental Bank through an open tender. The new scheme envisages a rise of the bank's paid-up capital to Tk 7 billions from the existing Tk 570 millions. The scheme stipulates Tk 4 billion as sponsor shares and the remaining Tk 3 billion as general shares.

Among the participating firms, BRAC is now running the Brac Bank as its subsidiary while Summit Group has business in power sector. The Domestic Consortium is local group of some banks and financial institutions.

The ICB Global Finance Group Holdings is a leading financial institution in Switzerland while Hatol National Bank is a Sri Lanka-based bank.

East Invest Private Equity Limited is an UK-based company, having a track record of investing 10 billion pounds sterling mainly in financial institutions in different countries of Europe, Africa and the Middle East