FBN Holdings has sold its entire stake in FBN Quest Limited, its commercial banking and asset management division, to a consortium of three companies.
This development marked the group's exit from the commercial banking business.
FBN Quest's services include corporate and investment banking, investment management, wealth advisory and fixed-income securities trading.
The “sale is in line with the company’s strategy to optimise its portfolio within the group,” FBN Holdings said in a regulatory filing published by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
“Following a competitive bidding process, EverQuest Acquisition LLP (comprising Custodian Investments PLC, Aion Investments and Evercorp Industries) was selected as the preferred bidder,” it added.
The share sale deal requires regulatory approval before it can close.
FBN Quest reported a net profit of N13 billion for the financial year 2023, contributing 4.2 percent to the group’s bottom line.
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Its total assets at the end of last year stood at N361 billion according to FBN Holdings' audited earnings report for 2023, up from N302 billion the previous year.
FBN Quest Merchant Bank, formerly FBN Merchant Bank Limited, was incorporated as a private limited company in February 1995. It was originally known as Kakawa Discount House Limited.
Received a license to operate the discount house business and began operations in November 1995.
FBN Holdings acquired the entire equity of the company and transformed it into a commercial bank after obtaining approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria for commercial banking operations in 2015.
In 2020, South Africa's Sanlam Group purchased 65 percent of the shares in FBN Insurance Limited from FBN Holdings, giving the acquirer 100 percent ownership of the entity and its subsidiary, FBN General Insurance Limited.