Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Samba Financial Group (Samba) have received the approval of its shareholders for the merger and to become one of the biggest banking entities in the Middle East.
The merged entity, Saudi National Bank with a total asset of about $239 billion plans to commence its operations on April 1, with headquarters in Riyadh, as per the statement by the two lenders.
Shareholders of NCB and Samba voted in favor of the merger at an extraordinary general meeting held last day, after receiving regulatory approvals from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), General Authority for Competition (GAC), Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and Tadawul.
The Saudi National Bank will be the number one in the country with an approximated 30 percent market share and benefit from increased scale. The new bank will also be positioned to compete regionally and locally, according to the statement.
In October, NCB and Samba agreed to merge to create the biggest banking entity in the kingdom, the Arab world’s largest economy. Following the merger plans, NCB received approval from CMA to increase its capital from $799 million to $1.2 billion to issue new shares in NCB to Samba shareholders. The share swap ratio is 0.739 of NCB ordinary shares for each Samba ordinary share.
The shares of Samba will be de-listed from Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on the effective date of the merger and the company dissolved with all assets, liabilities and operations transferring into Saudi National Bank.
Ammar Alkhudairy of Samba will be the new chairman of the Saudi National Bank, while Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi of NCB will take over as managing director and group chief executive.
Saeed Mohammed Al-Ghamdi Chairman – NCB
“The result of the vote at the EGA (extraordinary general assembly) speaks volumes of how attractive the value proposition for this merger is. Saudi National Bank will deliver value not just for our esteemed shareholders, customers, and employees, but for the nation as a whole.”
Commenting on the approval Mr.Alkhudairy stated that the merger is a milestone for the Saudi banking sector, which will now have a powerhouse that is truly a bank for all. Saudi National Bank will unlock significant opportunities as a larger and exceptionally well-capitalized bank.
