The UAE’s largest bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), has withdrawn its non-binding offer for majority stake in Egypt’s biggest investment bank EFG Hermes Holding.
EFG Hermes, Egypt’s biggest investment bank, initially received a non-binding offer from First Abu Dhabi Bank for a stake of no less than 51 percent.
FAB offered 19 Egyptian pounds ($1.21) per share, marking a premium of about 21 percent to where EFG was trading before 9 February.
In a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the First Abu Dhabi Bank claimed that it was withdrawing the offer due to market volatility.
“After careful consideration and in the context of ongoing global market uncertainty and volatile macro-economic conditions, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has decided to withdraw its non-binding offer submitted on 9 February 2022, for a potential cash acquisition of a majority stake in EGX-listed financial services institution, EFG Hermes Holding SAE,” the firm said in its statement.
Egypt’s EFG is a major adviser on initial public offerings at home and across the Middle East and North Africa. It has operations in 13 countries on four continents
The acquisition would have given FAB a larger presence in the Arab world’s most populous country and a foothold in several emerging markets including Kenya, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
“Egypt remains a strategically important market for FAB, where the bank will continue to support its customers and employees and continue to invest in the growth of its well-established partnerships and operations in Egypt,” the FAB statement concluded.
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