By Stanley Opara

Monday, 10 Jan 2011

Consolidated Estates Building Society Limited, TMC Savings and Loans Limited and Mutual Alliance Savings are working on a merger of the institutions.

This move, according to a statement by Consolidated Estates and Building Society on Friday, is aimed at repositioning the firms to become a major player in real estate financing.

The Managing Director, Consolidated Estates and Building Society, Mr. Andy Wabali, was quoted to have said that the three organisations were coming together to form a formidable primary mortgage institution in the country.

He noted that the government housing policy at all levels would only remain a ‘pipe-dream‘ as long as there were no strong primary mortgage institutions in the country that could provide access to cheap fund for Nigerians to own their own homes.

He said, ”The prevailing interest rates on mortgages by conventional banks are not what any ordinary civil servant or any working-class person can take without adverse effects on their standard of living when it comes to repayment. The tenor of such facilities is so short that people go through undue pressure to repay.

”Our role as primary mortgage institutions is to bridge this gap and provide cheaper fund and long tenor for repayment as it is obtainable in other parts of the world.”

He explained that the three organisations on coming together would leverage on their comparative advantages to provide exceptional services to customers through products’ development that would cater for the needs of every segment of the society – both for the low-income and high-income earners.

Wabali, however revealed that the merger talks would be consummated before the end of first quarter in the new year as talks had reached advanced stage, adding that due diligence on the three institutions had commenced.

 

Source: Punch