Crédit Agricole Group acquired 60 million additional shares in its Egyptian unit Crédit Agricole Egypt, taking shareholding to 52.185% stake from 47.385%.
“This bears witness to the confidence in the development and the performance of Crédit Agricole Egypt,” the Cairo-based subsidiary said in a statement on Thursday without disclosing the value of the deal.
However, the Egyptian Exchange said in a separate statement that the 60 million shares had changed hands in a block trade for $21.1 million (EGP 408 million).
Crédit Agricole reportedly entered the Egyptian market in 2001 following the acquisition of 93.3% of Crédit Commercial de France, which had only three branches. The French lender took over the Egyptian assets of Crédit Lyonnais in 2003 and in 2005 it obtained 75% of the shares of Egyptian American Bank.
The merged entity took on the name Crédit Agricole Egypt in 2006. Banks in the Middle East are demonstrating that they are eager to buy, sell, invest or partner to enhance their competitive positioning, add scale and digital capabilities and expand markets amid a challenging operating environment.
The UAE’s biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank, rebranded its Egyptian unit as ‘FABMISR’ following the completion of its merger with Bank Audi Egypt. The tie-up made FABMISR the largest foreign bank operating in the Egyptian market with $10 billion (EGP 185 billion) in assets and 69 branches. EFG Hermes also completed its takeover of state-owned Arab Investment Bank (aiBANK) last November, transforming itself into an Egyptian universal bank.
EFG Hermes acted as financial advisors on Crédit Agricole’s deal while Zulficar & Partners provided legal counsel.
