Ecobank scraps sale of business

PAN-African lender Ecobank Transnational has scrapped a sale of part of its Nigerian business because falling market values mean it would not get a good enough price, according to chief executive Ade Ayeyemi. “The market is not right for us to be selling part of that unit,” Ayeyemi, who started the job last month after quitting as Citigroup’s chief executive for subSaharan Africa, said on Tuesday. “We will not be doing any dilution at the moment. You cannot sell an asset that you don’t have to sell at the time when market prices are at the bottom of the trough.” Ayeyemi’s predecessor Albert Essien said in June that the lender would sell a stake in Ecobank Nigeria by the end of the year to boost the unit’s capital. Ecobank’s shares have fallen 12 percent in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, since the end of June, amid concern among investors that a slowdown in China and a looming rise in US interest rates may weigh on economic growth. – Bloomberg