RE - Fidelity, Ttb Heading For Merger?

Our attention has been drawn to a Business News item on Joy fm, an Accra based radio station, to the effect that the ongoing merger talks between The Trust Bank (TTB) and Merchant Bank Ghana (MBG) have been derailed. According to the story, the new Board and Management of MBG have taken a firm position to discontinue the merger discussions and that a new partner, Fidelity Bank, has instead sent in a proposal to merge with TTB which is supposed to be finalized by the end of this year.

The management of The Trust Bank wishes to state emphatically that no such approach has been made to us by Fidelity Bank ,neither are we aware also of any purported decision of the board and management of Merchant Bank to terminate the on-going merger discussions.

As a matter of interest, TTB is under very capable and experienced management and supported by a strong board under whose guidance the bank has undergone positive transformational changes and out-performed its peers in terms of profitability and shareholder value since its establishment in 1996. Management still believes that it makes good business and strategic sense to merge our operations with Merchant Bank Ghana but we wish to assure our stakeholders that with or without a merger TTB shall continue to maintain a viable and profitable operations whilst taking adequate steps to meet the new capitalization requirement well before the deadline set by the Regulator.

We are motivated by the unflinching support from our domestic and foreign shareholders., the loyal patronage of our customers and the professional integrity of our employees.

We remain Reliable, Responsive, Efficient, Honest and Transparent in our dealings and shall accordingly make known to our stakeholders any material future development regarding the outcome of the on-going merger talks with Merchant Bank Ghana.

Thank you.

Signed D. Kasser Tee Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs,