Italy’s Sanpaolo IMI has won the race to acquire Bank of Alexandria. It will pay $2 billion for an 80% stake in the bank, Egypt’s fourth largest. It outbid a consortium of banks comprising Jordan-based Arab Bank Group and Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank. Other bidders had included Dubai’s Mashreqbank and Dubai Investment Group, Egypt’s Commercial International Bank and BNP Paribas.
A further 15% stake is now expected to be sold through an IPO.
“In an increasingly competitive environment the challenges faced by the remaining public sector banks are substantial,” says Mark Young, managing director for banks in emerging markets at Fitch. “If they don’t become more dynamic, their franchise will increasingly be eroded.”