Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has expressed its intention to sell off over two-thirds of its holdings in Islami Bank Bangladesh – the second major sponsor to do so.
“Islamic Development Bank (IDB), one of the corporate directors of the bank, has expressed its intention to sell 86,939,960 shares out of its total holding of 120,788,585 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days,” according to an official disclosure posted on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website on Tuesday.
IDB, the Saudi-based multilateral development lender wants to bring its holdings down to around 2.0 percent, which is the bare minimum for a seat in the board, said an official.
At present, IDB holds 7.5 percent of Islami Bank’s shares.
At the going market rate, IDB would get about BDT 2.71 billion from the sale. Each share of the bank closed at BDT 31.20 on Monday at DSE.
The Jeddah-based lender wants to reinvest the money from the sale to help some African countries set up Islamic banks.
Dubai Islamic Bank, a major sponsor of Islami Bank, had sold its entire holdings in IBBL in phases between 2014 and 2015.
Islami bank was listed on the Dhaka bourse in 1985.
Sponsor directors own 34.27 percent stake in the Islami Bank, while institutional investors own 5.19 percent, foreign investors 42.17 percent and general public 18.37 percent as on April 30, 2017, the DSE data shows.
Islami Bank Bangladesh witnessed a massive reshuffle in the bank’s top positions in early January. Changes have been made to the posts of the bank’s chairman, managing director, heads of various committees and chief of the Islami Bank Foundation in line with a decision at the bank’s board meeting on January 5.
On the other hand, Excel Dyeing & Printing, one of the corporate directors of the bank, has expressed its intention to buy 32,038,814 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange within next 30 working days.
BBN/SS/AD