First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC is pressing ahead with a potential offer for Standard Chartered Plc, after a move to put earlier takeover plans on hold didn’t halt its ambitions to become a global financial powerhouse.
Under the code name Silver-Foxtrot, officials at the Abu Dhabi bank are working under the radar on a possible bid once a cooling off period required by UK takeover rules elapses, according to people familiar with the matter. FAB, as the bank is known, recently completed due diligence on the London-based lender, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Any deal would be dependent on market conditions and the performance of Standard Chartered’s share price, they said.
FAB — which is worth about twice as much as Standard Chartered — is exploring an all-cash bid of in the range of $30 billion to $35 billion, the people said. Any acquisition would be funded by its backers, which include Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co. and the emirate’s ruling Al Nahyan family, they said. FAB’s Chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is a powerful royal, and has in recent years taken on a more prominent role to spearhead the emirate’s political and economic goals.
After a period of higher crude prices, Abu Dhabi is keen to use its oil windfall to transform the city’s financial sector, which has lagged many of its other key industries such as energy, tourism and logistics. Such an attempt would represent a step beyond the moves other wealthy Gulf nations have made to take minority stakes in firms like Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG.
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