Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 22 April 2021

FAB begins share transfer in Bank Audi acquisition

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has begun the share transfer process in its acquisition of 100% of Bank Audi’s Egypt operations, FAB said in a statement (pdf). Once the share transfer is complete, FAB will begin merging the assets and operations of both Bank Audi Egypt and FAB Egypt, with the two banks expected to become fully integrated in 2022. FAB Egypt’s CEO Mohamed Abbas Fayed (LinkedIn) will be appointed as country CEO of the combined entity, according to the statement. The value of the transaction has yet to be made public.

FAB is jockeying for position among the ranks of top foreign lenders in Egypt: FAB now expects to have pro-forma total assets worth more than EGP 130 bn post-acquisition, compared to the previously reported EGP 120 bn, making it one of Egypt’s largest foreign banks in terms of assets, the statement read. FAB’s branch count will more than triple to 70, adding Bank Audi’s 53 branches to its existing 17.

Background: FAB had signed in January a final agreement to fully acquire Bank Audi’s operations in Egypt. Fayed said earlier this month that FAB is still waiting for the Egyptian and Emirati central banks to sign off on the transaction, but expects to complete the acquisition by the end of 2021. Bank Audi and Lebanese rival Blom Bank are both exiting Egypt as they go through a tough time in their home market, which has been grappling for months with liquidity issues.

Advisors: FAB and UBS AG are buy-side financial advisors, while EFG Hermes was the sole sell-side financial advisor. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy were legal advisors to FAB on the transaction, while Dechert as well as Zulficar and Partners were counsel to Bank Audi. JPMorgan gave Bank Audi a fairness opinion, while Broadgate Advisors also offered advisory services to the bank.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.