First Abu Dhabi Bank considered potential bid for Standard Chartered
- Gulf bank said it was previously at the ‘very early stages’ of considering an offer for Standard Chartered, but is no longer doing so
- Standard Chartered moved to exit seven markets in Africa and the Middle East in April
First Abu Dhabi Bank, the Middle East’s biggest bank, confirmed on Thursday that it had explored previously a potential offer to acquire Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing banks.
The Gulf bank, whose biggest shareholders include the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company and members of the United Arab Emirates’ ruling family, said it had previously been at the “very early stages of evaluating a possible offer” for the London-based lender, but was no longer doing so.
Standard Chartered declined to comment on Thursday.
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Shares of Standard Chartered jumped as much as 20 per cent in London on Thursday afternoon, following a Bloomberg report that cited sources saying that First Abu Dhabi Bank was exploring a bid but had not made a formal approach. Its shares rose 5.7 per cent in midafternoon trading.
Bloomberg reported that First Abu Dhabi Bank was considering a deal that would combine the two lenders into a financial firm with more than US$1 trillion in assets.