Pakistan Central Bank OKs Sale Of RBS Local Operations To Faysal Bank

28th Jul 2010 08:36

KARACHI (Dow Jones)--Pakistan's central bank has approved the purchase of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's (RBS) local operations by Faysal Bank Ltd. (FABL.KA), Syed Wasimuddin, spokesman of the State Bank of Pakistan said Wednesday. Faysal Bank has agreed to buy a 99.37% stake in the Pakistan operations of RBS for PKR4.3 billion ($51 million), or PKR2.50 a share. Faysal Bank--which is majority owned by Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank (ITHMR.BH) and Egypt's EFG Hermes Holding S.A.E. (HRHO.CI)--had conducted due diligence on the operations earlier this year. The sale is part of RBS's plan to sell non-core operations. Its previous attempt to sell the operations to MCB Bank Ltd. (MCB.KA) for $87 million failed because of not getting regulatory approvals. -By Haris Zamir, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +91-11-43563311; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 28, 2010 03:36 ET (07:36 GMT)