EFG Hermes, Egypt’s wealth fund to start due diligence on Arab Investment Bank
If completed, the acquisition would see EFG take a 51% stake and the SFE up to 25%. AIB is both a commercial and investment bank and offers traditional and sharia-compliant services.
The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) and EFG Hermes Holding to start due diligence on Arab Investment Bank (aiBANK) following getting the green light from the Central Bank of Egypt.
The parties aim to acquire 76 percent of the capital of the Bank mostly through a capital increase as well as potentially through the acquisition of some secondary shares from the National Investment Bank, the current majority shareholder.
In case of transaction completion, EFG Hermes Holding S.A.E will have an ownership in the Bank of not less than 51 percent and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt an ownership of not less than 25 percent with the remaining stake continuing to be held by the National Investment Bank and the Federation of Arab States.
he move “is an important step in a strategy that we started several years ago and that aims to transform EFG Hermes from a pure play investment bank into a universal bank,” CEO Karim Awad said.
“The partnership with EFG Hermes comes as part of the Fund’s strategy to cooperate with the Egyptian private sector to invest in promising sectors and in particular financial services and fintech,” CEO Ayman Soliman said. Attracting private sector partners has been a key mandate of the fund since it launched last year.
