Evans Loses Assets to First Bank, Skye Bank

Ronke Kehinde/

Skye Bank PLC and First Bank of Nigeria Limited have obtained a court order to take over the assets of Evans.

NewsmakersNG learnt that Evans Medical Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, lost its assets to the bankers after failing to pay its debts.

The firm, established in 1954, explained in a statement that it lost its assets after it failed to meet up with the loans it took from Skye Bank and First Bank.

As a result of this development, the two banks obtained a court order to take over the company’s assets.

However, the pharmaceutical manufacturing company did not state the exact amount of loan it took from the lenders.

The statement reads in part: “Evans Medical Plc (Evans Medical) would like to announce that the company’s bankers (Skye Bank PLC and First Bank of Nigeria Limited) have served the company with an ex-parte order of the Federal High Court dated July 4, 2017, granting them the right to take over the company’s assets used as collateral against facilities granted to the company by the bankers due to loan default.

“A Receiver Manager has also been appointed and has taken over the assets of the company.”

Speaking further, the firm said its board had commenced talks with the two financial institutions on how to resolve the issue amicably.

“The board of Evans Medical however has begun discussions with the two lenders with a view to arriving at an amicable resolution of the matter and the discussions are progressing favorably and we are optimistic that a mutually beneficial workable arrangement will be arrived at between the banks and our board as soon as possible in order to safeguard the company’s properties and assets as well as protect the shareholders’ investments,” the statement says.

The company, however, promised to keep its shareholders “informed accordingly and we appreciate your understanding in this matter”.

Few months back, a consortium of Nigerian banks had attempted to take over Etisalat Nigeria, now 9mobile, after the telecom firm failed to meet up with repayment plan of the $1.2 billion loan it took.

However, the takeover move was botched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) so as not to send wrong signals to foreign investors.

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