12:20 pm
Thursday, February 23, 2023
I wrote – Manal Al-Masry:
Three sources familiar with the deal to sell The United Bank to “Masrawy” said that the Central Bank – as the owner – addressed the Saudi and Emirati sovereign funds, and the competitors for the bank’s purchase deal, to quickly complete the procedures for submitting an offer to finally acquire the bank before offering it once more for sale to other investors. .
The Central Bank of Egypt had granted approval earlier this year to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, as well as to the Holding Company (ADQ), one of the sovereign funds of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, to conduct a due diligence examination on the United Bank.
The sources explained to Masrawy that the instability of the exchange rate of the pound once morest the dollar and its arrival at the fair point so far and the high inflation rate hindered the implementation of the deal and the failure to reach a final price, as any decline in the pound is in favor of the investor because he will pay the value of the deal for less dollars.
And the sources indicated that the completion of the procedures for the Saudi or Emirati strategic investor’s acquisition of the bank, The United Bank, is suspended, despite the completion of the due diligence process of 8 months, but there is no official notification of their withdrawal from the deal.
And Masrawy had published last November 2022, quoting sources, that the two competing funds, whether the Saudi Public Investments or the UAE Sovereign ADQ, were slow in completing the procedures for purchasing The United Bank owned by the Central Bank of Egypt, despite the passage of several months following the completion of the due diligence examination (evaluation of all the assets and works of the bank ) Because of the state of uncertainty in the fair point at which the exchange rate of the pound reaches once morest the dollar.
The Central Bank is seeking to sell The United Bank despite its financial strength and its desire to get rid of its ownership, which lasted for 16 years. According to the law, the Central Bank may not own banks, as it is the supervisor of the banking system and not as one of the players in the market.
The Central Bank currently owns regarding 99.9% of the shares of The United Bank, which is the entity that was established in 2006 by merging 3 banks that might not withstand (the Islamic Bank for Development and Investment, the Nile Bank, and the United Bank of Egypt) within the implementation of the banking system reform plan, Reducing the number of banks in Egypt from 69 to 39 only, and working to strengthen their financial positions.