“National Bank of Saudi Arabia to Transfer Credit Suisse Stake to UBS Upon Merger Completion”

The National Bank of Saudi Arabia said, on Monday, that its stake in the Swiss Credit Suisse Bank amounting to 9.88% will be transferred upon completion of the merger of Credit Suisse with the Swiss bank “UBS” to a stake of 0.5% in the “UBS” bank.

The Swiss bank UBS agreed last March to buy Credit Suisse in a deal estimated at 3 billion Swiss francs, to save Credit Suisse – which is the second largest bank in Switzerland – from bankruptcy, more than two years after the financial crisis that the bank suffered from.

At the time of the announcement of the deal – which brought financial guarantees from the federal government and the Swiss Central Bank – the National Bank of Saudi Arabia – which is the largest investor in Credit Suisse – said that its profits would not be affected by the deal.

And Al-Ahly Saudi said, in a disclosure on Monday to the Saudi Stock Exchange, that the fair value – the real value – of its investment – amounting to 5.5 billion riyals – in Credit Suisse decreased on December 31, 2022 by about 20%, and in the first quarter of 2023 it decreased again by approximately 70%.

He added, “The National Bank of Saudi Arabia’s 9.88% stake in Credit Suisse will be transferred to a stake in UBS of about 0.5% upon completion of the merger.”

Last March, the National Bank of Saudi Arabia said, before announcing the UBS and Credit Suisse deal, that it did not intend to expand its investments in the bank.

And Al-Ahly Saudi Arabia is one of the largest Saudi banks, and the Public Investment Fund – the Saudi sovereign fund – owns more than 37.2% of its capital.

(Prepared by: Maryam Abdel-Ghani, to contact zawya.arabic@lseg.com)

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