Egypt could be seeing a new bank acquisition as sources cited by Hapi Journal have revealed that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund - Public Investment Fund (PIF) - is “strongly interested” in investing in Egypt’s financial sector, with an eye on United Bank (UB).

According to its sources, the fund is looking towards Egypt’s financial sector due to its resilience in the face of successive crises. CI Capital was noted to have been tapped for as UB's advisor for the acquisition.

This isn’t the first time that an international fund has been interested in UB, with an American investment fund revealed to have begun negotiations back in April 2019 by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). At the time, the CBE noted that it was open for new competing offers.

The UB holds a license for Islamic banking in compliance with the provisions of Sharia, accounting for the majority of the bank’s transactions. The CBE currently holds 99.9% of United Bank.

The PIF could be part of the agreement signed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia in March, which stated that the Saudi fund would invest up to $10 billion in Egypt’s healthcare, education, agriculture and financial services sectors, but did not release further details.