Natixis buys EFG Hermes stake from Dubai Group

PurchaseDubai Financial Group has sold its 11.8% stake in Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes to France-based Natixis as part of a debt restructuring deal.

Although the firms did not disclose the value of the transaction, the stake was worth about 951 million Egyptian pounds ($107 million) according to a closing price last Thursday.

Natixis is among the creditors of Dubai Group, an investment company owned by Dubai’s ruler that was unable to meet its debt repayments after the financial crisis. The group came to an agreement to restructure $6 billion of debt in 2014.

Earlier this year it was reported that Natixis was seeking to enforce a sale of Dubai Group’s stakes in EFG Hermes and Bank Muscat.

“The sale of our stake in EFG Hermes is consistent with the business plan for Dubai Group, which was agreed with its lenders as part of the restructuring agreement,” said Dubai Group chairman Fadel Al Ali in a statement.

On Monday, EFG Hermes alerted its investors that Natixis had nominated Jean Cheval and Simon Eedle to replace Joseph Iskandar and Jonathan Andrew Cimino of Dubai Financial Group on its board.

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