Even before it ties up its merger plans with IBTC Chartered Bank, Stanbic Bank Nigeria has been picked as the programme manager of the $350 million Nigerian Content Support Fund (NCSF). The tender offer by Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited, the South African parent of Stanbic Bank Nigeria to shareholders of IBTC Chartered Bank closed two days ago.

In the offer, Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited sought to buy between 3,143,750,000 and 4,062,500,000 IBTC shares at N16 per share. The offer would enable the South African company own 33.1 per cent of the emergent bank while the IBTC Chartered Bank would have 66.9 per cent equity. Ahead of the collation of the offer coupons, Stanbic Bank was on Monday picked as the manager of the fund which is promoted by the Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The fund provides debt capital to Nigerian Oil Service Providers (NOSPs) for the execution of contracts awarded to them by the NNPC and it’s Joint Venture Partners (JVPs).

The aim of the fund is to drive government’s vision of attaining 70 per cent local content in the oil and gas sector by 2010. A customer forum on the fund will take place in Abuja on Friday. As the programme manager of the fund, Stanbic Bank, will play a dual role as fund administrator and manage the relationship between the NCFL and the NOSPs. Greg Brackenridge, Managing Director of Stanbic Bank West Africa, express delight at the appointment saying the choice of his bank’s subsidiary in Nigeria, attests to the several offers the group is bringing to Nigeria.

"By the appointment, Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited (SAHL), the parent company of Stanbic Bank Nigeria, is already showcasing the benefits of its sought-after merger with IBTC Chartered Bank. The benefits include the deployment of its international networks to facilitate the introduction of world class financial technological infrastructure to ensure best of breed global banking practices for which the Standard Bank Group has received numerous awards," he said.