National Bank of Abu Dhabi, FGB merger to be complete by Q1

First Gulf Bank PJSC (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC (NBAD), two of Abu Dhabi’s largest lenders, are on course for their merger by the end of Q1 this year, a spokesperson from NBAD told Argaam.

“We will be reporting as a merged entity in Q2,” the spokesperson said.

In a recent update for 2016, NBAD said the two banks have been working towards a successful merger and have passed “a series of significant milestones ahead of merger completion at the end of the first quarter of 2017.”

FGB also carried a similar statement in a separate note on its financial results.

“Led by the integration steering committee and integration management office, integration planning remains on schedule and the organizational structure is being further defined,” FGB said.

FGB also noted that “it did not raise medium-term funding in the last period in context of funding synergies ahead of the impending FGB-NBAD merger.”

After the merger, FGB assets and liabilities will automatically be vested in NBAD against issue of new shares in the new entity to existing FGB shareholders. Also, FGB shares will be de-listed from the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

The new combined bank will carry the NBAD name, and will likely be the biggest bank in the UAE with approximately $178 billion of assets, accounting for 27 percent of the banking sector.

The upcoming merger has received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of UAE, but further approvals from international regulators and the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) are required before the banks are combined into a single entity, the two lenders said.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com