BLOM agrees
to sell Egypt unit

Deal valued at

around $427 million

BLOM Bank said it has signed a final contract to sell its 99.4 percent stake in BLOM Bank Egypt to Bahrain-based Bank ABC.

"The proposed cash consideration to be offered by Bank ABC for 100 percent of BLOM Bank Egypt under the transaction is EGP6,700 million ($427 million)," BLOM Bank said in a statement.

The shareholders’ equity of BLOM Bank Egypt stood at $301 million at the end of September 2020 while its total assets reached $2.87 billion.

The closing of the deal will take place in the first half of 2021 after securing the approvals of the Central Bank of Egypt and the Central Bank of Lebanon, and of other regulators in Egypt and Bahrain.

The proceeds will boost the foreign currency liquidity of the BLOM Bank group and will contribute to its 20 percent capital increase which the Central Bank requires from all local banks. BLOM Bank has also recently transferred around €100 million ($121 million) in earnings from its units in Europe.

BLOM Bank Egypt has a network of 41 branches. It offers retail and corporate banking services as well as SME banking and solutions for financial institutions.

Like other local banks, BLOM Bank is exiting foreign markets. It had also delisted its Global Depositary Shares (GDSs) from both the London Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.