ADCB to discuss sale of RHB stake to Aabar

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), the UAE's third-biggest bank by market value, will start talks to sell its stake in Malaysia's RHB Capital to Abu Dhabi investment fund Aabar, the bank said in a statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange yesterday. ADCB has won Malaysian central bank approval for the move, the bank said yesterday. "In connection with the bank's strategic review of its stake in RHB Capital, on Friday, June 10 2011, the bank received approval from Bank Negara (the Malaysian Central Bank) to enter into negotiations with Aabar Investments regarding a potential sale transaction," Ala'a Eraiqat ADCB's Chief Executive said in a statement. Eraiqat said in April that the bank wanted to sell the stake in RHB and appointed Goldman Sachs Group and Bank of America's Merrill Lynch to advise on an exit. ADCB's 25 per cent stake in RHB capital is valued at around $1.6 billion (Dh5.9 billion). The bank's plans to sell RHB stake ran into problems as two Malaysian banks Maybank and CIMB, got regulatory approval to bid for RHB shares last month. Aabar is majority owned by Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle International Petroleum Investment Corp (IPIC). The investment company holds a 9.1 per cent stake in Daimler AG and a 4.99 per cent in Italy's Unicredit. Late last month Aabar raised $1.25 billion through a bond issue. The company which was delisted from the Abu Dhabi bourse last year bought its Daimler stake in March 2009 for around $2.7 billion. From / Gulf News