The state-owned Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has invited prospective buyers of Enterprise Bank, one of the three banks that the state nationalised in August 2011, to file expressions of interest by September 20, 2013, ThisDay reported. AMCON will then make a shortlist of potential buyers that will proceed to the first phase of the transaction.

In July 2013, AMCON appointed Citigroup Global Markets, the European arm of US-based financial services group Citigroup, and Nigeria-based pan-African investment banking and financial services firm Vetiva Capital Management as financial advisers on the sale of Enterprise Bank and G. Elias & Company as the legal adviser. Enterprise Bank is the first of the three nationalised banks that will be sold, while the other two, Keystone Bank and Mainstreet Bank, will be privatised later, one by one, with the whole sales process expected to be completed by Q3 2014.

Nigeria first intervened in the three banks - Afribank, Spring Bank and Bank PHB - as part of a USD 4bn bank bailout, but later nationalised them as they failed to find new investors before a recapitalisation deadline. Enterprise Bank took over the assets and liabilities of the defunct Spring Bank, Afribank was transformed into Mainstreet Bank and Bank PHB into Keystone Bank.

Enterprise Bank posted a pre-tax profit of NGN 11.3bn (EUR 52.5mn) for 2012, reversing a NGN 5.2bn loss for the last five months of 2011. Its gross earnings increased to NGN 40.4bn last year from NGN 10.5bn for the five months in 2011. Total assets grew 32% y/y to NGN 261.1bn. Client deposits rose 28% y/y to NGN 208.4bn. The bank operates a network of 150 branches and 154 ATMs and has a staff of 1,440.