Executive Director of Unibank, Clifford Duke Mettle has allayed fears that there may be a possible layoff of workers as Unibank takes over Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

Unibank acquired a controlling power over ADB in about a GHS 600 million deal after a consortium of financial institutions that control the majority shares in ADB pledged their proceeds, entitlement and voting rights to uniBank.

Mr. Duke Mettle told Winston Amoah on 3FM’s Sunrise morning show Wednesday that it is not always the case that a takeover will result in a layoff.

He explained that after acquiring over 51% shares in ADB, both companies would be very keen on efficiency and laying off workers is not the only option for attaining efficiency.

NAME AND MANAGEMENT

According to Duke Mettle, the name and focus of the Agricultural Development Bank will not be affected despite its takeover by UniBank.

He was emphatic that there has not been any change either in name or management.

“If there are any further strategic alignments we will let you know but the name will not change, the management will not change”, he said.

He maintained that both banks will continue to focus on their assigned strategies.

The consortium led by Belstar Capital – a turnkey project finance and implementation institution – also includes Starmount Development Company Limited, EDC Investments Limited and SIC-FSL.

Explaining what it means for a consortium to pledge its shares to UniBank and what it means to the two banks, Clifford Duke Mettle said, “This means that ADB will still pursue their agenda as a bank, their focus will still be the same, they will be running in the agric space pursing vigorously what they’re assigned as the strategic focus of the bank and that will not change for now”.

“Unibank will also continue to push its SME agenda as the focus of the bank and that will not change for now”, he added.