Further to the announcement made in early August 2014, HNB yesterday entered into a shareholder agreement to acquire a 51% stake of voting rights in Prime Grameen Micro Finance Ltd. The agreement was signed subsequent to the successful completion of a detailed due diligence and the transaction is expected to be concluded once regulatory clearance is obtained.

This strategic acquisition will complement HNB's investments in Insurance and Capital Markets to benefit as a Group from the growth prospects of the country. HNB Managing Director and CEO Jonathan Alles, said Micro finance will play a key role in the development of rural Sri Lanka and in distributing the dividend of economic growth more evenly among society; as a premier local bank we take pride in participating in this development process.