Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said its planned $797 million sale of a stake in its Caribbean unit won’t proceed after regulators rejected the deal, leaving the bank stuck with a business that had been declining in value.
CIBC announced the sale of the two-thirds stake in CIBC FirstCaribbean to a company run by Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski in November 2019. The deal, which would have left CIBC with a 25% stake in the Barbados-based bank, valued FirstCaribbean at about $1.2 billion, less than half of its $2.8 billion value when CIBC took over most of the business.
“While this transaction would have supported FirstCaribbean’s long-term growth prospects, it is only one way of creating value for stakeholders,” Harry Culham, CIBC’s head of capital markets who also oversees FirstCaribbean, said Wednesday in a statement announcing regulators’ rejection of the deal.
CIBC didn’t detail the reasons the deal was rejected, or say which Caribbean regulators failed to approve it. FirstCaribbean will focus on optimizing its business and enhancing efficiency, Toronto-based CIBC said in the statement.
CIBC had been seeking to scale back its presence in the Caribbean, where it had been offering banking services since 1920. The Canadian lender combined its operations in the region with Barclays Plc’s in 2002 to create FirstCaribbean, and four years later purchased the British bank’s 44% stake in the operation for $988.7 million.
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Sell it to ACB and CUB.
Might be a good idea to have one international bank trading in Antigua… Think about the big picture from a commercial / entrepreneurial world-view perspective regarding ease of international business for Antiguans. (Incoming wires can take 7+days using local banks / the fintech tools are not as readily available locally). Also our standing regarding trustworthiness in matters financial.
I am a customer at a local bank, yet concerned about maintaining a broad view.
It seems that the other Caribbean leaders/ regulators are listening to Gaston Browne.
Dem say wa darg a play wit, pussy well warnt.
Good so now they can come to Gaston to sell it for $1.00
And pack up their bags and leave.
Since they claim they lost one billion in value.
Money and we know it will be obsolete in a few months REMEMBER THIS BLOG.
All banks has one owner.
The one that regulates is the actual owner.
Uncovering the myths…..
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