Bank Alfalah submits public intention to acquire majority stake in Samba Bank

Bank Alfalah Limited, one of Pakistan’s largest commercial banks, has submitted a public intention to acquire a majority stake in Samba Bank Limited.

BAFL shared the development in its notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday.

“We would like to inform that M/s Arif Habib Limited, manager to the offer, has submitted the public announcement of intention to acquire up to 84.51% shares of the target company, held by Saudi National Bank, on behalf of the acquirer, in accordance with the said provisions of the Securities Act, 2015 and the Listed Companies (Substantial Acquisition of Voting Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2017,” read the notice.

Last month, Bank Alfalah expressed its intention to acquire a majority stake in Samba Bank Limited.

Back in 2021, Samba Bank had received firm intention from a consortium comprising participating members of the management of Samba Bank Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, and Gulf Islamic Investment LLC to acquire control of 852.040 million voting shares, representing 84.51% of paid-up capital of the bank. However, that deal did not pan out.

Meanwhile, as per Bank Alfalah’s latest financial results, the bank posted a consolidated profit after tax of Rs36.09 billion during the year 2023, which is over 96% higher than its earnings in the preceding year.

The bank reported earnings per share (EPS) of Rs23.15 as opposed to Rs10.38 in the same period last year.

BAFL is one of the largest banks in Pakistan, with a network of over 1,024 branches across more than 200 cities in the country, and international presence in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bahrain and the UAE.