Kathmandu. The merger between Himalayan Bank and Nepal Investment Bank is in crisis. The crisis that started with the change of chairman of the board of directors of Himalayan Bank has been further aggravated after the dividends declared by both the banks.

The merger crisis between the two banks has been seen after Prachanda Bahadur Shrestha, who was reluctant to merge with Investment Bank from the very beginning, became the chairman of the board of directors of Himalayan Bank.

Chairman Shrestha and Manoj Bahadur Shrestha are the largest founding shareholders of Himalayan Bank. Both were reluctant to merge with the investment bank. Shrestha Dajubhai was of the view that the existence of Himalayan Bank should be saved by merging with banks like Bank of Kathmandu and Civil rather than Investment Bank.

However, Gautam, who was then the chairman of the board of directors of Himalayan Bank, had agreed to merge with the investment bank as per the intention of the Rana group. However, the merger with the investment has stopped gaining momentum as Gautam Hate has become the best decision-maker and the Rana faction has become weaker.

"Since Tulsi Gautam stepped down as chairman of the board of directors, the merger committee of the two banks has not met. Himalayan Bank has not communicated with the investment bank for the merger," said a Himalayan Bank source.

The message that there may not be a merger between the two banks has already spread among the top employees of the bank, both bank sources said.

It is seen that the shareholders of the investment bank may also be shocked after the dividend declared by both the banks. Investment Bank has announced to give 11.24 percent bonus share this year while Himalayan Bank has announced to give 21.36 percent bonus share.

As per the previous agreement, the shareholders of the investment bank will now suffer a loss in the ratio of 1: 1. Because after the bonus shares announced now, those who have 100 shares of Himalayan Bank will get 121 shares of the bank after the merger. However, those who have 100 shares of Investment Bank will get only 111 shares.