Due diligence on Egypt’s United Bank to kickstart end of September: CBE

The CBE, which owns 99 percent of the bank, announced that multiple international institutions expressed interest in the deal.

Furthermore, the CBE denied media reports about three local banks undertaking due diligence to acquire the United Bank.

Due diligence refers to the comprehensive process of investigating a business or organization before an acquisition, including conducting research, examining financial records, and assessing legal and regulatory risks or issues.

In May, the CBE hired the UK's Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank (Barclays CIB) as the international financial adviser for the sale of the United Bank.

The United Bank, established in 2006, is one of the 32 state-owned companies recently designated for sale by the government under its IPO programme. 

The privatization programme is part of Egypt's commitments under its $ 3 billion loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, the IMF loan deal is currently facing challenges since the first review, originally scheduled to be completed on 15 March, has not been conducted yet.   

Egypt seeks to accelerate the implementation of the IPO program to finalize the first and second reviews of the deal, which  Morgan Stanley expects to be conducted in the coming months. 

The country is coping with a local shortage of US dollar liquidity and a financing gap estimated at $17 billion through 2026.