Subscribe to Egypt Claps

CBE receives the first offer for United Bank

It’s from the Kuwait Finance House, but it’s a non-binding one

What

The Kuwait Finance House (KFH) announced a non-binding acquisition offer for the United Bank. The United Bank is owned by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and is part of the state asset sale program linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal. The announcement was made in a statement to the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange.

CLAPS Class: A non-binding offer establishes terms in the sales process, without legally binding any party to the sale

Why the delay?

It’s been a while since news about United Bank’s sale was reported by local media, but the deal is likely delayed due to the complexity of calculating EGP-USD exchange rate, sources told Asharq earlier last week.

Some Context

The government’s asset sale program — which United Bank is a part of — has garnered good results. And an augmented IMF deal is expected to be finalized within weeks, the fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters.

The government amassed USD 5.6 billion in 2022 from selling stakes in 14 companies, and is looking to make an additional USD 6.5 billion from asset sales by the end of 2024, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in a ministry statement.