Egypt offers 80% stake in state-owned bank

Egypt plans to sell 80% of state-owned Banque du Caire to a strategic investor in a bid to privatise the bank, it said on Monday.

The country's third largest public sector bank will also see 15% of its assets floated in a public offering on the stock market, while the remaining 5% will go to employees, the government said in a statement, AFP reported.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said in September 2005 that Banque du Caire was set to merge with the country's second largest bank, Banque Misr, in a bid to bolster both institutions.

A cabinet spokesperson told AFP that last year's plan to merge the two banks changed when it was decided there would be too many redundancies.

Monday's announcement to sell 80% of the bank was the first sign that it would be privatised instead, AFP said.

The move follows in the footsteps of state-owned Bank of Alexandria, which was sold to an Italian bank in October for $1.6 billion - Egypt's largest privatisation deal.

The country's decision to sell the banks is part of Prime Minister Nazif's strategy for economic reform. He plans to consolidate the banking sector by cutting down the number of banks from 60 to 26.

Banque du Caire is currently owned by the state-owned Banque Misr.

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