It has been revealed that an agreement has been reached between the Bank of Kathmandu (BOK) and Global IME Bank to merge.
According to a source close to the Bank of Kathmandu, a merger agreement was signed between the two banks on August 13.
Earlier, it was reported that only a preliminary discussion was held at the Chandragiri Resort on August 13. However, a reliable source at the bank‘s top-level said, “Not only discussions but also agreements have been reached. Agreements have been reached on many other issues from the swap ratio.”
A high-ranking official of Global IME Bank also admitted this. According to him, it has been agreed that BOK will get a swap ratio of 90 to 95. It is understood that the directors of the two banks have agreed to complete the work at a very fast pace considering the possibility of splitting the merger process.
According to bank sources, both the banks are ready to move ahead with the merger process by publishing the second quarterly report of the current fiscal year, i.e. financial statements up to mid-January. Recent discussions between key operators of the two banks have laid the groundwork for a merger.
According to a source, the discussion has almost settled the issue of the merger process and technical issues required for it. Sources claim that there was a serious discussion on the initial draft of the MoU and the agreement was even signed by the responsible persons. Sources said that both the banks are preparing to make this issue public in the 2nd week of September.
Bank of Kathmandu was also in talks with Mega Bank, Sunrise Bank, and Siddhartha Bank for a merger, while Global IME was also looking for a suitable partner to become the largest bank. In this context, the repeated discussions between the two banks on merging have taken shape.
If Global IME Bank agrees to merge with BOK, it will become the largest commercial bank in Nepal. Earlier, two commercial banks, Commerce and Trust and Janata Bank were merged by Global IME. In addition, Global IME Bank has merged with about a dozen other small banks and financial institutions.
B.S. In 2073 BS, Lumbini Bank was merged with BOK in the ratio of 100 to 82.81. After that, the board of directors of the bank had five directors from BOK and four from Lumbini.
