Shahjalal Islami Bank's former chairman offloads major stake

Akkas Uddin Mollah, former chairman and one of the sponsor directors of Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd, has sold a significant portion of his stake in the bank, transferring the shares to a family-owned company.

Today, Mollah declared his plan to sell 2.10 crore shares out of his 2.23 crore holdings at the prevailing market price through the block market of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) within 30 working days. 

However, he executed the full transaction the same day, selling the shares at Tk18 each, worth Tk38 crore.

This marks his second major divestment in just over a year. In June 2023, Mollah sold 2.17 crore shares out of his then-holding of 4.40 crore shares, also through the CSE's block market.

Mollah, who is also chairman and managing director of Osman Group of Industries, dismissed speculation about his exit from the bank. 

"I am not leaving the bank at all. Instead, a major portion of my stake was transferred to a company owned by my family," he told The Business Standard.

Explaining the move, he added, "Unlike our generation who handle things as individual businessmen, our next generation prefers corporate structures. If I want to hand over the baton of my businesses, it should be in their preferred way."

Akkas Uddin Mollah currently holds the bank's directorship as a representative of Akkas Uddin Mollah Limited.

Market analysts, however, see a strategic dimension to the transfer. 

By splitting his holdings between himself and his family-owned entity, Mollah has created scope for securing two board seats instead of one. Under existing securities regulations, a shareholder or nominated director must hold at least 2% of shares to qualify for a seat on the board.