Kuwait’s Burgan Bank recently announced the withdrawal of its offer to purchase a 40 percent stake in the Egyptian Al-Watany Bank (AWB)’s 157 million pound ($34 million) capital. The bank has not released an official statement clarifying its reasons for the pull out, reported Al-Alam El Youm .
According to AWB Chairman, Adel Ezzy, the Kuwaiti bank also made a bid to purchase shares in the Misr America International Bank and was made a counter offer to purchase the financial institution in its entirety for same value that it offered to pay to acquire a 40 percent interest in AWB . He also stated that AWB has received another purchase offer from a Gulf corporation.
The Burgan Bank made its 40 percent purchase offer last month. AWB issued a counter statement agreeing to sell 33 percent of its shares to the institution on the condition that the remaining seven percent will be distributed to its former shareholders.
AWB is one of Egypt’s leading private sector banks. At present, the bank's services include current accounts and time deposits, certificates of deposit, documentary settlements, and project and loan finance. The bank is also involved in securities trading, establishment of new companies and promotion of initial public offerings.
The bank offers these services through its 15-branch network, Visa, tele-banking, and automated teller machines (ATM) in Egypt's major cities. The bank also operates an Islamic banking branch in Cairo. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
