An investor from the Arab Gulf region is interested in buying a stake in the Arab African International Bank (AAIB), which the government included in the upcoming IPOs programme for 2024, sources told Daily News Egypt.
The government IPO programme included 32 companies that will be offered until the first quarter of 2024, between public offerings on the Egyptian Exchange, or an offering for a strategic investor, according to the Egyptian Cabinet.
The programme includes 3 banks, namely Banque du Caire, the United Bank and the AAIB, provided that the completion of offering 25% of the companies of the offering program within 6 months.
The sources added that the Gulf investor is studying with its advisors the possibility of implementation, and is currently negotiating about the stake it wants to seize, suggesting that it is the closest to offering the bank by selling a share to an investor.
The Egyptian state owns about 50% of the bank’s capital through the Egyptian government, while the Kuwaiti side owns the remaining percentage through the Kuwait Investment Authority.
The global economy has witnessed several fluctuations since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict at the end of November 2022, and at the local level, the Egyptian economy faced many challenges, including high inflation rates and a shortage of foreign currency, motivated by the exit of hot money as a result of the US Federal Reserve raising the interest rate more than once.
The AAIB achieved strong business results for the third quarter of 2022, as it reached a net profit of $149m, compared to $108.6m for the same period in 2021, with a growth rate of 38%.
The bank achieved a net profit before taxes estimated at $211.5m in the third quarter of 2022, compared to $168m for the same period in 2021, an increase of about $43m in a year, with a growth rate of 25.8%.
The AAIB was established in 1964 by a special law as the first multinational bank in Egypt.
