Lebanon Central Bank nods Hermes to exit Credit Libanais

Beirut Central Bank approved Credit Libanais deal accepting the request of Credit Libanais to sell part of the shares controlled by Cairo-based EFG Hermes (HRHO) to a group of Lebanese and Arab investors.

The Central Bank meeting was headed by Gov. Riad Salameh.

The new deal saw the entry of new partners and the increase in shares of the existing ones, bankers said Thursday.

According to the sources, EFG Hermes sold 2,700,000 of its shares to CIH Bahrain International Holding, increasing the latter’s stake from 23.52 percent of the bank to 35.06 percent. CIH Bahrain International Holding is a Lebanon-registered company controlled by the heirs of late Saudi billionaire Khaled bin Mahfouz.

EGF Hermes also sold 30,303 of its shares to the board member of the bank Sarkis Demerjian, according to the sources.

In March, the chairman of Credit Libanais Joseph Torbey told The Daily Star that a group of Lebanese and Arab investors had secured $332 million to buy nearly two-thirds of EFG Hermes’ 63.74 percent stake in the bank. 

“We have managed to bring prominent investors from Lebanon, Gulf and Arab states to buy [40 percent of Credit Libanais out of] the stake of EFG Hermes. This is considered a big achievement given the delicate situation in Lebanon,” Torbey told the paper at that time.

The increase in the holdings of CIH and Demerjian totals to less than 12 percent of the bank’s shares, meaning it’s still not known who will acquire much of EFG Hermes’ holding – some 28 percent of Credit Libanais ownership.

Credit Libanais is expected to issue a statement soon.

EFG Hermes also released a statement in March saying it had reached a tentative deal and it was “proceeding with all necessary steps required to complete the sale of 9,408,749 shares of its holding in Credit Libanais SAL, representing 40 percent of the total outstanding shares of the bank, at a gross [prior to payment of associated fees] price of $33 per share to a consortium of Lebanese and Arab Investors.”

EFG Hermes is expected to keep the remaining 23.74 percent and extend the mandate to Credit Libanais Investment to sell the remaining shares until November 2016, a deadline that can be extended to the end of May 2017.