NIC Asia Bank Notice For Sale Of Founder Shares By Keshav Prasad Bhattarai

9th June 2026, Kathmandu

NIC Asia Bank Limited has formally released a public notice concerning the proposed divestment of internal founder shares held by a notable promoter.

NIC Asia Founder Shares

The corporate announcement was generated after promoter shareholder Keshav Prasad Bhattarai submitted a formal application to the board seeking official clearance to sell a portion of his equity holdings. This specific asset liquidation involves a total block of 7,981 individual units of founder shares currently registered under his direct personal ownership.

Priority Purchase Rights Granted to Existing Institutional and Individual Promoters

In strict compliance with the unified directives issued by Nepal Rastra Bank, commercial banks must enforce an inside-first buying policy during corporate equity sales.

This specific framework requires the bank to offer the available block of shares to current internal shareholders before opening up the allocation process to the general public or outside investment firms.

The regulatory objectives behind giving existing promoters priority purchase options include:

• Preserving internal ownership stability among established founding partners
• Preventing abrupt changes in institutional control without board supervision
• Providing existing strategic backers a chance to expand their equity footprint
• Ensuring complete transparency in secondary equity transfers within the banking group
• To exercise this regulatory right, any current internal shareholder wanting to acquire the offered units must file a structured application.

This policy ensures that capital remains concentrated among verified founding entities who are already deeply familiar with the corporate governance standards and long-term business goals of the banking institution.

Explicit Application Guidelines, Pricing Documentation, and Submission Destination

Interested internal shareholders must assemble their acquisition documents carefully and submit them within the strict timeline defined by the credit committee.

The evaluation team will reject incomplete filings or applications delivered after the official deadline without further consideration.

The core guidelines and information requirements for submitting an equity purchase bid consist of these items:

• Applications must be delivered within a strict thirty-five day window starting from the publication date
• The formal expressions of interest must be submitted directly to the Corporate Office in Kamaladi, Kathmandu
• Prospective buyers must explicitly write down the exact volume of units they intend to purchase
• The documentation must clearly state the proposed purchase price per unit in local currency
• Submissions must include complete shareholder registration details and valid account references

The central registry office will record each incoming application to ensure a fair evaluation based on the time of arrival and the offered prices.

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Because the central bank monitors large equity changes closely, applicants must make sure their personal records match the information held in the master shareholder registry of the bank.

Potential Public Offering Framework and General Investor Eligibility Rules

The corporate board has made it clear that the exclusive internal buying window will automatically close if no internal promoters step forward.

If no valid applications arrive from the internal group within the thirty-five day timeframe, the bank will expand the liquidation process to include outside buyers.

The operational steps for the potential secondary public distribution phase involve these rules:

• The equity block can be offered to eligible external individual professionals and institutional firms
• The secondary transfer will run under the standard regulatory codes defined by prevailing state laws
• Incoming external buyers must fulfill the strict fit and proper test criteria demanded by Nepal Rastra Bank
• The final pricing structure for external buyers may be updated to reflect current market conditions
• This secondary path allows the selling promoter to liquidate his position efficiently even if local internal buyers pass on the opportunity.

Opening the sale to outside entities ensures that commercial banks can smoothly complete equity rebalancing actions while maintaining full compliance with national market regulations.

Absolute Institutional Authority and Corporate Governance Assurances

The corporate board emphasizes that publishing this notice does not lock the bank into a mandatory sale agreement.

Both the executive management team and the selling promoter maintain full legal control over the review, acceptance, or rejection of any incoming bids.

The operational boundaries and legal protections governing the share transfer process state that:

• The bank reserves the absolute right to approve or decline any application at its sole discretion
• Bids may be rejected by the board without giving specific business reasons to the applicant
• All final equity transfers depend on receiving formal clearance from the central bank authority
• The entire transaction must align perfectly with internal bank procedures and capital adequacy rules

By maintaining complete administrative control, the leadership group can block problematic blocks of shares from moving to unverified groups or disrupting corporate governance stability.

Founder shares serve as a foundational anchor for Nepali commercial banks, meaning their movement is heavily regulated to protect depositor confidence and maintain a stable financial system nationwide.

For More: NIC Asia Founder Shares