AS&H in cooperation with Clifford Chance advises NCB on the largest bank merger in Saudi Arabia

Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm (AS&H) in cooperation with Clifford Chance advised the National Commercial Bank (“NCB”) on the signing of its merger agreement with Samba Financial Group (“Samba”) on 11 October 2020. The Transaction will be implemented through the merger of Samba into NCB which will result, upon its completion, in all of the assets and liabilities of Samba being transferred to NCB, and new shares in NCB will be issued to the shareholders of Samba.

In its announcement, NCB commented that “The merger will create a regional powerhouse with SAR837 billion (US$223 billion) in assets, uniquely positioned to accelerate the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s banking landscape and deliver progress towards Vision 2030”.

The AS&H core team was led by Mansoor Alhagbani (AS&H Partner and Head of Capital Markets and Financial Regulatory), supported by Counsel Sahel Mughal, Senior Associate Mashael Al-Shebaiky and Associates Ahmad Al-Sadhan, Rakan Kawar, Haifa Al-Damegh and Motaz Al-Fozan.

Lawyers from a number of Clifford Chance offices were also involved, including Mohammed Al-Shukairy (Regional Managing Partner, Middle East) and Daniel Boyle (Counsel, Dubai).

Mansoor Alhagbani commented: “We are extremely proud to have advised NCB on this transformational transaction to create a new Saudi banking champion. We would like to thank NCB for putting their trust and confidence in our team to advise on this strategic mandate. It has been an extremely rewarding experience and has enabled us to reinforce our longstanding relationship with them. We look forward to continuing our work with NCB to bring this landmark transaction to a successful conclusion".

AS&H in co-operation with Clifford Chance regularly advises Saudi and international clients on key corporate and ECM transactions and mandates, recently advising PIF on the US$69 billion sale of its stake in SABIC to Saudi Aramco, SABB on its US$5 billion merger with Al-Awwal Bank, Sahara on its business merger with Sipchem and Tenaris on its acquisition of a majority stake in Saudi Steel Pipe Company.