Egypt: QNB finally takes over NSGB

A total of 443,535,902 shares of the ‘’National Société Générale Bank’’ (NSGB) have been acquired by the Qatar National Bank (QNB) at a selling price of EGP 35.65 per share.
The 100% acquisition of the shares cost the Qatari bank EGP 16.142bn. The NSGB is a subsidiary of the French Société Générale Bank in Egypt.
The principal shareholder of NSGB owns 88,18 of its stock. The latter was involved in talks alongside other advisory institutions and brokers. JP Morgan Limited and QNB Capital acted as the advisors. Beltone Financial served as a broker.
The Qatari bank needed 51% of the bank’s shares in order to take over NSGB and the two parties have been in discussions over the sale for a while now. They reached an agreement stating that shares will be offered at $5.7667 each but they will be sold in local Egyptian currency at an exchange rate which will be fixed by the country’s central bank on the day of purchase. The deal was agreed upon under the legal guidance of article 12 of the Capital Law market 95; which was passed in 1992.
In accordance to the laws of Egypt, transfer of ownership should reflect on the Egyptian Exchange over a period of five days, beginning on the day the offer period ends.
Qatar National Bank has been on an expansion campaign in recent years. Despite the global financial crisis still taking its toll on markets, QNB continues its acquisitions oversee with the support of its sovereign wealth fund. Half of the bank belongs to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) which concentrates more on acquiring different assets and to make Qatar a major international centre for finance and investment management.