BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE proposed US$797 million sale of First Caribbean operations to the Gilinski Group out of Colombia has been withdrawn after it did not receive the necessary approvals from regulators in the region.
Announcement of the withdrawal was made Tuesday (Feb. 2) morning by the parent company of First Caribbean, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
In 2019, it was announced that the GNB Financial Group Limited moved to purchase majority stake in FCIB - 66.73 percent of the share in the regional entity for $797 million, pending the necessary approvals from regulators in the region.
CIBC in a media statement disclosed that the “previously announced transaction to sell a significant portion of its majority stake in CIBC FirstCaribbean ("FirstCaribbean") to GNB Financial Group Limited did not receive approval from FirstCaribbean's regulators”.