EFG Hermes and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) have received the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) approval to conduct due diligence on the Arab Investment Bank (aiBank), in preparation for acquiring at least 76% of the aiBank’s capital, mostly through a capital increase.
There is also the potential for the acquisition of secondary shares from the National Investment Bank (NIB), which is the aiBANK’s current majority shareholder.
“In case the transaction is completed, EFG Hermes will have an ownership in the Bank of not less than 51%, while TSFE will get not less than 25%,” a Wednesday statement read. “The remaining stake will continue to be held by the NIB and the Federation of Arab Republics.”
TSFE’s CEO Ayman Soliman said, “The partnership with EFG Hermes comes as part of the Fund’s strategy to cooperate with Egypt’s private sector to invest in promising sectors and in particular financial services and FinTech.”
Soliman added, “I am a strong believer in the Egyptian banking sector, which continues to present strong growth opportunities for investors with great potential to compete and expand regionally and into Africa.”
Karim Awad, Group CEO of EFG Hermes, said, “The receipt of the approval to conduct due diligence from the CBE is an important step in a strategy that we started several years ago, that aims to transform EFG Hermes from a pure investment bank into a universal bank that also provides both banking and non-banking services to its clients in its home market of Egypt.”
The completion of this acquisition is subject to a number of factors, including the completion of satisfactory purchasers’ due diligence. It also depends on an agreement between the parties on the different contractual agreements, and obtaining final approval from the CBE.
Accordingly, shareholders should exercise due care and consider these factors when trading the share of EFG Hermes Holding during the coming period, the statement highlighted.
