The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has followed Government’s lead and is selling the former Barbados National Bank (BNB) shares it owns to Republic Bank Limited in Trinidad and Tobago.
Confirmation of this has come from Republic Bank’s group managing director David Dulal Whiteway, who told the SUNDAY SUN yesterday that the NIS had officially indicated it would sell its 9.70 million shares in the former BNB (now Republic Bank Barbados) to the bank’s parent company, Republic Bank Ltd, at $5 per share for $48 million.
The development came after NIS chairman Dr Justin Robinson had publicly stated his preference for a share swap, noting that the NIS already had more than enough cash.
A share swap would have resulted in the NIS getting equity in Republic Bank Ltd, which Robinson viewed as much more valuable than a one-time payday of $48 million.
