Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Samba Financial Group have joined hands, leading to the emergence of Saudi National Bank, which would make the merger one of the largest banking entities in the Middle East.
The companies announced on Tuesday on approval of the merger from shareholders to create the Kingdom’s biggest lenders. The operations will commence on April 1, with Riyadh as the headquarter.
Shareholders confirmed that NCB chairman Saeed Al-Ghamdi will serve as the managing director and Chief Executive Officer of the group and Samba chairman Ammar Alkhudairy will become the merger bank’s chairman.
The announcement of the merger ensues approval of all regulations, such as Capital Markets Authority (CMA), General Authority for Competition (GAC), Saudi Stock Exchange, and Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).
The proposed merger required approvals from CMA to raise capital from SR30 billion to SR44.78 billion for the issuance of a new share in NCB to Samba shareholders, as part of the preparation.
According to a statement, Saudi National Bank is estimated to have over $220 billion worth of total assets and will be the biggest in the region with around 30% market share across every metric. The new bank will also be optimally positioned to compete locally and regionally.
