UAE-based First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) said Thursday that it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered ( StanChart) but was no longer doing so.
“First Abu Dhabi Bank confirms that it had previously been at the very early stages of evaluating a possible offer for Standard Chartered, but as of the date of this announcement, is no longer doing so,” the Abu Dhabi-based lender said in a bourse filing.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that FAB had been exploring an offer for StanChart in what would have been a complex deal aimed at building an emerging markets lender with more than $1 trillion of assets. Shares in StanChart rose as much as 21% on the reported takeover interest before giving up most of those gains.
Sources told Bloomberg that FAB had been working with advisers for more than six months though no formal approach had been made.
FAB was created in 2016 when Abu Dhabi combined its two largest lenders—National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank. The lender hasn’t made any other significant acquisitions since the takeover of the Egyptian unit of Lebanon’s Bank Audi in 2021. FAB withdrew its offer to acquire a controlling stake of “no less than 51%” in Egypt’s EFG Hermes Holding last April.
