No response from Saudi buyer as deadline ends

The Privatisation Commission has not received any positive response from the Saudi prince to finalise the Rupali Bank sell-off deal as the November deadline ended, said commission chairman yesterday.
"If you ask me about the fate of the Rupali Bank handover deal, I will just say I have not received any positive response," said Abu Solaiman Chowdhury.
The government now will look to alternative ways for privatising the state-run bank, Chowdhury added.
Earlier in October, the commission chief announced it would cancel the sale of Rupali Bank to the Saudi prince if he failed to complete final sales and purchase agreement (SPA) within November.
“We will wait until November. If the Saudi prince does not complete the final deal within the timeframe, the sale procedures to the prince will be cancelled,” Chowdhury told reporters.
The commission has completed all formalities for handing over more than 93 percent shares in Rupali Bank at a price of US$458 million to Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. The prince was the highest bidder in a tender last year.
When contacted, sources close to local representatives of the Saudi prince said letters from the prince were sent to the chief adviser, finance adviser, Rupali Bank authorities and the Privatisation Commission chief a week ago. But details of the letters could not be known.
Previously, a high-level meeting of the finance ministry set July 15 deadline for the Saudi prince to respond in writing for taking over of the ownership of the Rupali Bank. The prince missed the deadline.
Earlier, the buyer missed May 31 deadline.
The trading of the Rupali Bank on the Dhaka Stock Exchange has been suspended since the first part of the last month.