CL Financial Asset Sale on Ice

The sale of a 55% stake in Republic Bank and a 56% in Methanol Holdings in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) are on hold until the global economy strengthens and stabilizes, says Carl Hiralal, inspector of financial institutions at T&T’s central bank, which took over CL Financial insurance unit Clico in early 2009 as the company ran into liquidity problems. The government took over CL Financial’s local assets in June. “There has been no decision to sell yet. These are good assets and this is not the best time to sell them,” he tells LatinFinance. Bankers in Trinidad told LatinFinance in April that Canada’s CIBC, which holds a 91% stake in the country’s First Caribbean Bank, is the most likely buyer of the 55% stake in Republic. It could cost $1.3bn to buy the chunk, according to a banker who asks not to be identified. A senior Republic executive had said his bank is not interested in acquiring the shares.