Egyptian bank shareholders "positive" about UAE bid

Private shareholders in Egypt's National Bank for Development (NBD) are interested in a bid for the bank from a United Arab Emirates consortium led by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, an Egyptian official said on Saturday.

The official, Central Bank Deputy Governor Tareq Amer, denied that his bank had rejected the bid for NBD.

An official of Emirates International Investment Company, which is part of the UAE consortium, said in a statement on Thursday that the central bank had rejected the bid as too low.

The bid, at 11 Egyptian pounds ($1.93) a share, or 310 million pounds for the whole bank, was about one-third of the market price of the shares before the bidding began.

Amer told Reuters: "The bid has not been rejected. I am denying that on behalf of the central bank."

"In fact, it is being considered positively by the private shareholders. They are looking at it to decide," he added.

He said the Egyptian government, as a minority shareholder with a 17.86% stake in NBD, was not in a position to impose its views anyway.

He gave no indication of when the private shareholders may reach a final decision on the bid, the only one received.

The UAE consortium is effectively led by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, the largest member of the United Arab Emirates federation. Emirates International, owned by the ruling family, is the biggest shareholder of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

Egypt's central bank is encouraging consolidation in the banking sector and wants the government to reduce its holdings in lenders. Bank of Alexandria was the first of four big state-owned banks to be privatised last year.

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