M&A WATCH- Three banks interested in Bank Audi Egypt: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the National Bank of Kuwait, and Emirates NBD have expressed interest in acquiring Bank Audi’s Egypt unit but have yet to make official bids, banking sources told Masrawy. Audi said last week that it was in talks with several potential buyers after press reports claimed that it was looking to exit the country due to the ongoing financial crisis in Lebanon. Bank CFO Tamer Ghazaleh confirmed that the bank was considering pulling out of the country due to financial pressures emanating from Lebanon. S&P Global downgraded the bank’s credit rating further into junk status in November amid a liquidity squeeze in the Lebanese banking sector.

Bank Audi had been looking to acquire the National Bank of Greece’s Egypt unit before the Lebanese crisis erupted. Last week’s news came just days after local press reported that the banks were making progress in the acquisition in spite of NBG’s employee pay dispute preventing them from obtaining CBE approval.