JEDDAH, 27 January 2008 — The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is examining bids from local banks and private investors for ABN Amro’s 40 percent stake in Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB), the bank’s chairman said in remarks published yesterday.
SAMA, the Kingdom’s central bank, was considering the sale of the stake either to the public via the stock market or to accept bids made by “local banks and firms,” said Mubarak Al-Khafra, SHB’s newly appointed chairman.
He did not name any of the bidders and made no reference to previous bids by foreign banks.
Officials at SHB and the Saudi central bank could not be reached for comment.
National Bank of Kuwait said in 2006 that it was competing with Standard Chartered Plc to buy ABN’s stake in Hollandi. Sources familiar with the matter have said that Lebanon’s Banque Audi was also interested.
The stake is worth $1.43 billion based on the last closing price.
ABN was bought last year by a group of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland.
Royal Bank of Scotland and its partners Spain’s Santander and Belgian/Dutch bank Fortis said in their offer for ABN that the Saudi assets would be sold.
ABN was bought last year by a group of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland. “ABN has been acquired by three international banks, which saw their stake in Saudi Hollandi Bank not effective and this has prompted them to sell the stake,” Khafra said.
“We are happy over the exit of the foreign partner,” he said, adding that SAMA as discussing with ABN the best way to sell its shares in the Saudi bank.
Khafra said the bank’s higher board of directors has already begun reform programs.
It appointed Geoffrey Calvert as managing director with effect from Sept. 1, 2007. Calvert, who earlier worked as managing director of SABB, succeeded Jan Koopman as interim managing director.
Asked whether SHB had any plan to become an Islamic bank, he replied: “There has been serious efforts to implement this system... and I am working to transform all the bank’s dealings in accordance with the Islamic system.”
Islamic banking has proved its effectiveness not only in Saudi Arabia but also elsewhere in the world, he added.
In June last year, a senior SHB official denied reports that ABN Amro Bank, which ranks eighth in Europe and 13th in the world based on total assets, was planning to sell its 40 percent stake in the bank.
Saudi Hollandi Bank, the oldest in the Kingdom, was founded in 1926 and is one of the leading banks in Saudi Arabia. The Dutch Bank ABN Amro owns 40 percent of the stock with the remainder being held by Saudi investors.
As of June 30, 2007, the bank had SR49.3 billion ($13.1 billion) in assets and more than 1,534 employees, of which 86 percent are Saudi nationals. SHB operates 41 branches and 171 ATMs throughout the Kingdom.
