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Business News of Thursday, 23 October 2014

Source: B&FT

Ezi Savings and Loans rebrands as Firstrust

Ideal Financial Holdings Limited, a private equity firm, has announced the acquisition of Ezi Savings and Loans Limited and has effectively changed its name to Firstrust Savings and Loans Limited.

With the addition of Firstrust to the group, Ideal Financial Holdings Limited -- with interests in finance, mining, investment banking and insurance --has effectively positioned itself as a leading conglomerate in the financial services industry.

Set to be officially out-doored on Tuesday 30th September 2014, Firstrust Savings and Loans has been repositioned and strengthened with massive investment in human capital, systems, technology, product innovation and other logistics that will propel service delivery for its customers to a level that is unmatched in the financial industry.

Chief Executive Officer of Ideal Financial Holdings Limited, Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani, said the acquisition of Ezi Savings and Loans was very smooth, and he assured Ezi customers of a brighter future with the company.

“We wish to assure all customers of Ezi Savings and Loans Limited -- now Firstrust Savings and Loans Limited -- this is the dawn of a new era meant to forge a solid partnership with all stakeholders that will be mutually beneficial,” he added.

Ideal Financial Holdings holds almost a 100 percent stake in Firstrust and Dr. Dzani noted that all the staff of Ezi Savings and Loans are comfortably at post without any major restructuring, only the addition of a few quality hands.

Ideal Financial Holdings Limited has so far injected about GH¢10million into Firstrust Savings and Loans, and Dr. Dzani added that it intends to meet the central bank’s minimum capital requirement of GH¢15million by the end of the year -- and even increase it to GH¢30million before end of 2015.

“We intend to become the leader in the SME sector by enhancing our IT platform with better ATMs and opening strategic branches, at least three before the year ends. We want to grow our balance sheet in order to support more SMEs in agriculture.”

Dr. Dzani added that Firstrust’s aim is to become a universal bank in about two years, serving a niche market and delivering unmatched products and services.

“We are looking at becoming a universal bank in two years, and with the backing of Ideal Financial Holdings -- which has a reputation as a credible institution -- we will always stand very tall among our competitors.”

Ideal Financial Holdings Limited has Ideal Finance, a non-bank financial institution; Ideal Capital Partners, an investment advisory and professional services provider as major subsidiaries.