Jordan Times
Wednesday, November 10, 1999
Key Cairo-Amman Bank shareholders deny interest in
selling out
By Saad G. Hattar
AMMAN — Major shareholders of the Cairo-Amman Bank have denied news reports that they are seeking to sell their stake in the institution, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Al Aswaq Daily quoted the chairman of the bank's board of directors, Sabih Masri, as saying that his partners had no plans to sell their shares.
“We have received many offers to buy our shares, but we have not studied them as our shares are not for sale,” Masri told the newspaper.
The chairman said the bidders “from inside and outside Jordan offered to undertake merger projects with Cairo-Amman Bank or to enter into a strategic partnership.”
Masri, along with the Talhouni and Abul Ragheb families, forms one part of a triangular coalition that reportedly claims nearly 70 per cent of the bank's shares.
The Housing Bank, the second largest financial institution in Jordan, earlier gave its board of directors a green light to discuss a potential merger with Cairo-Amman Bank.
Other banks, including the National Saudi Trade Bank, have also offered to establish partnerships or buy a large chunk of shares in the Cairo-Amman Bank, according to Al Aswaq.
But Masri did not rule out the possibility of future co-operation with other banks in light of the market drive towards mergers and the global banking boom.
He emphasised the solid foundations of the Cairo Amman Bank, saying that it recently issued bonds worth JD10 million to boost its retail transactions.
The Cairo-Amman Bank increased its initial capital to JD20 million in order to meet the Central Bank of Jordan's minimum requirements, Masri added.
In 1998, the bank boasted a pre-tax net profit of JD7.5 million. The clients' assets and deposits soared by JD11 million to reach JD685 million.
According to the CBJ regulations, the minimum capital of each of the country's 22 banks should not be less than JD20 million, a condition which has prompted several banks to hike their initial capital or merge.
A year ago, the Arab Bank bought up the Amman Investment Bank, and the National Bank merged with the Business Bank.