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UNB not pursuing Egyptian bank

Egypt’s HC Brokerage said in a daily report that UNB had asked Egypt’s central bank to start a financial assessment ahead of a possible acquisition of Egyptian Workers Bank, in which shareholders currently include a labour federation and state-owned banks and institutions.

“We are looking at the Egyptian market — it is a promising market but we are not specifically looking at this bank,” said Ahmed El Shall, senior vice president at UNB. “We have not applied to the central bank to undertake due diligence.”

UNB unsuccessfully bid for Egypt’s Cairo Far East Bank, which was won by Lebanon’s Audi Bank for $94.4 million last month.

Shall did not say which banks UNB was looking at or when it hoped to make a purchase, but said the Abu Dhabi-based bank would continue to seek opportunities in Egypt.

“Egypt is a huge market. The economy is booming, the purchasing power of the consumer is on the increase, and we think there is an opportunity there for us,” Shall said.

The Central Bank of Egypt has been encouraging Egyptian banks to merge and public-sector banks to sell off holdings in joint-venture banks. Several state-owned stakes have already been sold to foreign banks.

Egyptian banks have become more attractive, with an improvement in the economy on the back of government reforms, analysts say. Central bank policy makes it hard to enter the market without acquiring an existing bank.