National Bank of Egypt arm acquires Pharos Securities Brokerage

National Bank of Egypt, the country’s biggest state-owned lender, said on Monday its investment arm has acquired Pharos Securities Brokerage a move aimed at expanding into non-banking financial services.

Founded in 2006, Pharos Securities Brokerage – a subsidiary of investment bank Pharos Holding – ranked fifth biggest broker for local investors, fourth for Arabs, and seventh for foreigners.

The agreement was signed by Karim Saada, managing director of Al Ahly Capital Holding, and Elwy Taymour, chief executive officer of Pharos Holding.

The acquisition comes as part of NBE’s plan to establish an integrated investment bank through the National Capital Holding, aiming to expand into offering non-bank financial services so as to attract more foreign investments to the Egyptian market, said the bank’s chairman Hisham Okasha.