First Abu Dhabi Bank reportedly to restart negotiations to buy Bank Audi’s Egypt unit

UAE’s biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) plans to restart negotiations to buy the Egyptian unit of Lebanon’s Bank Audi, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

FAB will have an internal meeting this week to decide on a way to resume talks and put in a final bid, one of the sources told Reuters, declining to be named as the matter is not public yet.

Meanwhile, a second source told Reuters that FAB planned to restart talks within two weeks.

FAB declined to make any comments. A spokesperson for Bank Audi said it had not been contacted by FAB regarding restarting any talks.

In May, FAB put talks on hold due to difficult market conditions driven by the coronavirus pandemic.

A source familiar with the matter said then that the acquisition offer was worth around $700 million.

Bank Audi Egypt has grown from a three-branch operation taken over by Bank Audi in 2005 to 50 branches with total assets of $4.4 billion as of the end of September 2019.

Gulf lenders are seeking to expand their market share in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country. On the other hand, some Lebanese lenders are attempting to sell assets to fulfil a requirement from Lebanon’s central bank to boost their equity.

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest lender, is currently negotiating to take over the Egyptian unit of Lebanon’s Blom Bank.