Bank Alfalah withdraws acquisition bid for Samba Bank

KARACHI: Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL), one of Pakistan’s largest commercial banks, has officially withdrawn its public announcement of intention (PAI) to acquire a majority stake in Samba Bank Limited.

This move follows a decision by Saudi National Bank (SNB) to terminate plans to divest its 84.51 per cent majority stake in Samba Bank.BAFL had previously received in-principle approval from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to conduct due diligence on Samba Bank for the proposed acquisition of SNB’s shares. However, SNB’s recent decision to halt the sale process led to the retraction of BAFL’s intention to acquire the stake.

In a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, BAFL confirmed that the withdrawal of its PAI.“The Saudi National Bank has terminated the process for the sale of its equity stake in Samba Pakistan. Consequently, Arif Habib Limited, as manager to the offer, on behalf of BAFL, has submitted the withdrawal of BAFL’s earlier public announcement of intention to acquire SNB’s shareholding in Samba,” the notice stated.