Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) has entered into an agreement to acquire a 49 per cent ownership stake in the Libyan–based Mediterranean Bank S.A.L, Beltone Financial said in a press release on Wednesday.
The acquisition, which is subject to final regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Libya, is expected to close before the end of the first quarter of 2011, said the report.
Under the transaction, ABC will inject an additional capital of LYD74 million (approximately $60 million) into Mediterranean Bank, in return for the agreed upon shareholding stake.
Once the transaction is complete, ABC will have the right to appoint three directors (out of a total of seven) to the board.
ABC is currently doing a significant amount of business relating to Libya, having established the first ever foreign bank offices in Tripoli in 1988. The acquisition of an equity stake in Mediterranean Bank, therefore, constitutes a natural extension of ABC's existing business in North Africa.
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