NCB-Samba to merge into Saudi banking heavyweight | Reuters:
Saudi Arabia's biggest lender National Commercial Bank 1180.SE (NCB) has entered a binding merger agreement with smaller lender Samba Financial Group 1090.SE to create a combined entity with 837 billion riyals ($223 billion) in assets, NCB said on Sunday.
Low oil prices and weak economic growth are pushing bank consolidation across the Gulf.
Once completed, the NCB-Samba tie-up would create the Gulf region's third largest lender by assets, after Qatar National Bank (QNB) and UAE's First Abu Dhabi Bank FAB.AD.
NCB agreed to pay 28.45 riyals for each Samba share, valuing it at approximately 55.7 billion riyals ($14.85 billion), NCB said in a bourse filing. That corresponds to a 3.5% premium to Samba’s closing share price on Oct. 8, the last business day before Sunday’s announcement.
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