Merger of FGB and NBAD completed

The Securities and Commodities Authority, SCA, has issued a certificate completing the merger of the First Gulf Bank, FGB, and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, NBAD.

The SCA has set 30th March as the last date for trading the respective shares of the two banks ahead of starting trading of new shares on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, ADX, on 2nd April.

The merger will lead to the creation of the largest banking entity in the Middle East and encourage more mergers between entities operating in similar sectors, including the banking sector in the UAE. The ADX has completed the procedures for the unification of the records of the stakeholders in both banks. The indicative market price of the new shares will be calculated based on the last traded price of the shares of both banks in the market before the merger on Thursday, 30th March, 2017.

At separate general assembly meetings held last December, the shareholders of the FGB and NBAD voted in favour of the merger, which was recommended by the board of directors of the two banks on 3rd July.

Total assets of the two banks were estimated at Dh665.8 billion by the end of 2016, according to the latest statistics, which showed that the combined deposits rose to Dh402.58 billion, while their combined loan value increased to Dh357.2 billion by the end of 2016.

According to studies carried out on the mega development, the merger will contribute to reducing the operating costs of the new entity by Dh500 million a year, with the interest cost to be realised within three years, while the estimated one-time business unification cost would be Dh600 million.

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