Ahli United Bank B.S.C. (AUB) announced an increase in its stake in Ahli United Bank, Egypt (AUBE) from 35.3% to 79.6%, completed through a formal tender offer to all AUBE shareholders.
 
Fahad Al Rajaan, Chairman of AUB & AUBE commented “we are pleased by the increase and consolidation of our stake in AUBE.  This was achieved by a path breaking innovated tender offer, applied for the first time in Egypt, providing all shareholders a choice between a full cash sale or a security exchange fully in a transparent and equitable manner”.
 
He added “Our additional investment of EGP 985 million ($181 million) reflects our confidence in the future economic prospects of Egypt and will be followed by significant investments to upgrade our corporate and retail capabilities in AUBE”.
 
Headquartered in Bahrain and widely recognised amongst best performing banks in the GCC, Ahli United Bank has successfully solidified  its position as a premier, pan Gulf-Middle Eastern financial institution, offering a full range of conventional and Sharia-compliant banking services to customers across the region. Through its focused and successful ‘connecting for growth’ strategy, AUB today integrates a network of 7 subsidiary and managed affiliate banks with 118 branches in 7 countries and serving a wide customer base of 500,000 clients in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Egypt and the United Kingdom.
 
In 2009, AUB was named ‘Best Bank in the Middle East’ for the fourth consecutive year by New York-based Global Finance, the bank enjoys solid investment grade ratings and the highest accorded to a Bahrain-based bank, by international rating agencies: Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Capital Intelligence {“A-“(stable), “A-“(stable) and “A” (Stable) respectively} with a Stable outlook.

© 2010 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)