Here’s a look at new banking giant expected from NCB-Samba merger
18/02/2021 Argaam Special Share Copy to clipboard
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and the General Authority for Competition (GAC) recently approved the merger of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Samba Financial Group (Samba), whereby the latter will merge with the former, transferring all its assets and liabilities to NCB.
The merger is expected to be completed in H1 2021 under the proposed name - Saudi National Bank.
In October 2020, NCB entered into a legally binding merger agreement with Samba, under which both banks agreed to take the necessary measures to implement a merger pursuant to the Companies Law, as well as the merger and acquisition regulations issued by the capital market authority, Argaam reported.
Saudi insurance sector poised for increased M&A activity in 2021: analysts
19/02/2021 Argaam Special Share
by Parag Deulgaonkar
Saudi Arabia’s insurance market is set to witness consolidation, with mergers and acquisitions (M&As) gaining pace during the year, according to analysts.
“We expect continued M&As in the insurance sector. However, given the pandemic is still ongoing, we consider that some potential M&A activity could take more time to complete,” Panagiotis Toskas, Associate Director – Insurance, Fitch Ratings, told
Argaam.
In January, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) reiterated the need for insurance companies to look at M&A deals since the sector is a key driver of the Kingdom’s economy and a pillar of the Financial Sector Development Program.