National Bank of Kuwait's (NBK) investment banking arm plans to expand in Egypt this year after NBK took over a lender in the North African state, a report said.
NBK Capital would open a branch in Cairo this year and pursue private equity investments in Egypt's retail, logistics and packaging sectors, Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) quoted Amjad Ahmad, NBK Capital's chief executive for investment and merchant banking, as saying.
NBK, Kuwait's second-biggest lender by market value, bought 51 percent of AlWatany Bank of Egypt for $522 million in August. It held 96 percent of the Egyptian lender at end-November.
"Since NBK purchased Al-Watany Bank of Egypt the dynamic for use has changed dramatically," Ahmad said, according to the weekly magazine.
On investments in Egypt, he said: "We have bid a lot but have not done any deals because asset prices are so high."
NBK Capital operates in Kuwait, Dubai and Istanbul, where the lender bought 40 percent of Istanbul-based Turkish Bank for $160 million in July. NBK has been expanding in the Middle East as foreign players such as HSBC and BNP Paribas have entered its home market. Reuters
Source: Trade Arabia
