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Libya plans to sell stake in al Wihda Bank
Real estate news By Reuters South Africa
Mon 8 Oct 2007, 8:47 GMT
Libya's Central Bank said on Monday it is offering for sale a stake in the country's fifth-largest state-owned bank. The Bank picked Rothschild & Cie as its adviser on the sale of a minority share of al Wihda Bank as a first step, before expanding it to 51 percent share later on. "The Central Bank offers 19 percent of the 73 percent stake the (state) Social Development Fund owns in Wihda bank for sale to a strategic investor," it added.
The Central Bank set October 31 as a closing date for would-be bidders to send their interest offers. "The strategic investor would be granted the right to increase its stake to 51 in the mid term," it said. In July the Libyan government selected BNP Paribas as strategic partner for Sahara Bank in the first partial privatisation deal for the country, the central bank has said. It said BNP Paribas had offered 145 million euros for a 19 percent stake, valuing the bank at 3.6 times its current book value.
BNP will get management control and has the right to increase its stake to 51 percent in three to five years. The bank moves are part of plans to expand the private sector's role in a Soviet-style economy handicapped by red tape, archaic banks, an overstaffed civil service and complex tax, customs and financial regulations that have limited foreign investment.
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