Morocco: Attijariwafa Bank Eyes Takeover of Barclays’ Egypt Branch

Morocco’s leading banking group, Attijariwafa bank, has submitted a bid to take over British Barclay’s Egypt branch, a source close to the Moroccan institution told Reuters.

The transaction has been estimated at $400 million.

Barclay has decided to get rid of its Egypt’s branch as part of structural adjustment policy in a move to generate more gains for share-holders, huffpostmaghreb.com reports.

Attijariwafa Bank is not the only bidder. Several other global banking establishments, including Emirati NBD headquartered in Dubai, are also in the race.

Attijariwafa Bank’s bid is part of the expansion plan of its network in the continent. The bank is already operating in several African countries, including Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Mali.

Attijariwafa Bank, crowned Africa’s 2016 leading bank, Wednesday announced a 7.9 percent rise in its first-half net profit to 2.49 billion Moroccan dirhams ($260 million.)

The Casablanca-based bank also indicated in a statement that its net banking income was up 3.5 percent at 10.1 billion dirhams as revenues and margins improved, Reuters reports.