M&A WATCH- FAB to decide on fate of its bid to acquire Bank Audi in 2Q2020: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) will decide in the second quarter of the year whether it wishes to move ahead in its bid to acquire Bank Audi’s Egypt arm, Reuters reports, quoting an unnamed senior executive. FAB is currently in the due diligence process after it received a go-ahead from the Central Bank of Egypt last month. A final decision will be made after FAB completes the study, the banking group’s head of subsidiaries, strategy & transformation, Karim Karoui, said.

FAB eyes Egypt, Saudi expansion: The largest lender in the UAE sees Egypt and Saudi Arabia as its go-to markets for expansion, CFO James Burdett, told reporters. “Both [countries] have a very close relationship with the UAE, both have very big GDPs and we believe there are good [prospects] there,” Burdet said.

Background: FAB was one of three banks that expressed interest in buying the unit, after it emerged that Bank Audi was looking to exit the country amid the ongoing banking crisis in Lebanon. This came just a few months after the Lebanese bank looked close to acquiring the National Bank of Greece’s (NBG) Egypt arm.