First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) announced the end of a legal merger process with Bank Audi – Egypt in a Facebook post on Saturday. The post said that the two banks will now be dealt with as a single legal entity under the new name First Abu Dhabi Bank Egypt FABMISR. FAB had announced its acquisition of 100% of the capital of Bank Audi Egypt and signed the final agreement for the acquisition in January 2021. The acquisition allowed FAB to accumulate the assets of Bank Audi – Egypt, which amounted to a total of EGP 85.6bn until December 2020, in addition to integrating the business system of Bank Audi – Egypt in the sectors of retail banking and corporate banking services through a branch network that includes 53 branches. FAB has a long history in Egypt, as it started its activity in the Egyptian market in 1975. The acquisition contributes to a significant increase in the size and scope of FAB's activity in Egypt and will make it one of the largest foreign banks operating in the Egyptian market in terms of the volume of assets, recording an asset base of more than EGP 130bn as of December 2020. Bank Audi's business was launched in the Egyptian market following the acquisition of Cairo Far East Bank in March 2006, when the bank succeeded in establishing its position among the most prominent banks operating in the Egyptian market and developed its direct presence through the development of a branch network that includes more than 53 branches compared to three branches only at the time of acquisition. Since its entry into the Egyptian market, Bank Audi has implemented a growth strategy based on three main axes — meeting the needs of customers and providing them with high-quality products and services, developing new channels and systems to take advantage of the tremendous technological development and its impact on banking sector operations, and creating and launching an innovative model for operating branches to ensure the promotion of the level of service provided to customers. In its time, Bank Audi provided its clients in the Egyptian market with a full range of financial and banking services, including corporate banking, private banking, investment banking, retail banking, securities brokerage, and banking insurance services and products. Although Audi Bank – Egypt was aiming to acquire the National Bank of Greece recently, everyone was surprised by the bank's intention to exit the Egyptian market, as the Lebanese group that owns the bank decided to sell its unit in Egypt to meet the regulatory requirements issued by the Central Bank of Lebanon, which mandated the increase of banks' capital by 20% after the recent tensions in Lebanon.
