The Fortiz Private Equity Fund says it satisfied all stipulated conditions required for the takeover of Merchant Bank Limited, contrary to speculations that the transaction was done without regard to due process.
It also assured customers of the bank and the public at large of its financial strength and technical capacity to turn Merchant Bank’s fortunes around.
A statement issued by the directors of Fortiz in Accra yesterday said the raging controversy over the transaction was misplaced and full of misrepresentations.
“Fortiz wishes to assure all Ghanaians and the international community that our bid to acquire shares in Merchant Bank was above board and that we satisfied all the necessary stipulated conditions required in such transactions.
“All the negative spin in sections of the media is entirely misplaced and full of misrepresentations and misperceptions.
“We at Fortiz can confirm that we have and will put to use for the successful turn-around of one of our own premier banks the financial, intellectual, human and capital resources required to achieve this objective.”
The statement confirmed that the fund was established this year and was “owned by Ghanaians of excellent repute. Fortiz was set up to mobilise resources with the objective of turning around businesses in distress.”
It explained that the fund put in a bid to acquire and turn around Merchant Bank, following the breakdown of earlier negotiations with other parties that had expressed interest in acquiring shares in the bank.
“This was a transparent bid and the process undertaken was done without flouting any professional or legal standards.
“It is a fact that Fortiz is not a bank and that it was established this year but neither of these two facts was documented as disqualification criteria for bidding for Merchant Bank and neither of these points can be linked globally to the future success of start-ups and/or acquisition of business concerns.”
“The success or failure of a business is correlated to the availability of a vision, the resources to drive objectives to achieve the vision and proper and professional discipline and business ethics to manage and contain potential risks,” the statement said.
It said the Fortiz Fund had no affiliation with FORTIS of the USA, and added that its status as a private equity firm made it irrelevant trying to link the stated capital, “which has been erroneously stated at GHc5 million, and the size of the investments we make or the funds we mobilise.”
It also said the fund had presented a debt recovery plan for bad loans which had been accepted and would be follow to the letter.