Barclays Bank, in cooperation with investment bank CI Capital, is leading a promotional tour for the sale of The United Bank, after negotiations for its acquisition by the Saudi Public Investment Authority (PIF) stalled.
The sources told Daily News Egypt that consultants are currently working on drawing up a map of the countries in which the promotion will take place, and its time will be set during this month.
In mid-May, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) appointed Barclays Bank as an international financial advisor to finalize its exit from its shareholding in the capital of The United Bank it owns, within the framework of the Egyptian government’s program to sell stakes in state-owned companies.
The sources added that the initial indicators show that promotion will be in several Gulf countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, and a number of other foreign countries, with the aim of receiving direct offers to buy the bank.
The sources confirmed that the sale will take place by selecting the highest offer after the end of the promotional tour.
They mentioned that the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) bid to acquire the bank was rejected due to disagreement over the fair value of the agreement.
The PIF wanted to assess the bank in dollars and pay the value in EGP, as it is an Egyptian bank operating in the Egyptian market, while the Egyptian government wanted to assess the bank in dollars and receive the price in dollars.
The sources added that the difference between those two methods will affect the deal by about $80m, which prompted the Saudi sovereign to withdraw from the acquisition of The United Bank.
The government’s exit from The United Bank comes within the program of government offerings that it announced last February and includes 32 companies, including three banks.
The government offering programme aims to increase the participation of the private sector in the economy through the state’s exit from some of the assets owned by it, to provide hard currency to bridge the financing gap.
The CBE established the United Bank in 2006, as part of the banking sector reform strategy, by merging three banks: The United Egyptian Bank, the Nile Bank, and the International Islamic Bank for Investment and Development.
