This is not the first time we have heard news of the merger, with Bank ABC and Blom Bank Egypt announcing the transaction way back in January
Bahrain’s Bank ABC is moving forward with its plans to acquire Blom Bank Egypt, having submitted a mandatory tender offer, according to the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) yesterday.
FRA states that the transaction offer would see Bank ABC buy up to 300 million of Blom’s shares at EGP 22.33 apiece, which would value Blom Bank Egypt at $427 million (EGP 6.7 billion).
This is not the first time we have heard news of the merger, with Bank ABC and Blom Bank Egypt announcing the transaction way back in January. Several Egyptian news outlets suggested that the acquisition would possibly be finalized in Q2 2021.
For now, Bank ABC will have to wait for the FRA and the Central Bank of Egypt to give its final approval before finalizing the acquisition.
Bank ABC already has a presence in Egypt with Bank ABC Egypt, in which it owns a 93% stake.
A subsidiary of Lebanon's BLOM Bank SAL, Blom Bank Egypt announced it was planning to exit the Egyptian market almost a year ago in August 2020 as Lebanon faced its worst financial crisis.
Lebanon’s Bank Audi’s subsidiary in Egypt made a successful exit earlier this year, also in response to the growing difficulties in the country, bought out by the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and making it the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates and as one of the biggest foreign banks in Egypt. FAB begun the share transfer process in April.
