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UAE: Three lenders agree to create $114B bank

By  |  January 29, 2019

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), Union National Bank (UNB), and Al Hilal Bank agreed to a merger on Tuesday, January 29, to create the third-largest bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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    The bank will become the fifth largest in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with 420 billion UAE dirham (US$114.4 billion) in assets with increased productivity and economies of scale expected to boost profitability, the statement said.

    The merger “makes a lot of strategic sense,” said Richard Segal, a senior analyst at Manulife Asset Management in London. “The first-half closing timetable seems ambitious, unless some of the preliminary work has already been undertaken.”

    The merger, first announced in September, was unanimously recommended to shareholders by the boards of ADCB and UNB, the banks announced in a joint statement.

    Full Content: Bloomberg

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