The Bank of Alexandria is one of the largest
banks in
Egypt, with 210 branches across the country.[1] It has a market share of almost 7% and had assets of 5.2 billion
euros (US$6.5 billion) as of June 30, 2006.
Intesa Sanpaolo is the major shareholder in the bank. It holds 70.25% of the bank shares, IFC holds 9.75% and the Egyptian Government holds 20%.
Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, who is a former head of the Egyptian Banks Federation, is a former chairman of the bank.[2]
History
In 1857 local Greek merchants established a Bank of Alexandria to cater to the needs of the Greek merchant community. This bank was liquidated in 1877.
1957 The Egyptian government founded Bank of Alexandria to take over the Egyptian operations of
Barclays Bank DCO, which the Egyptian government had nationalized in 1956 after British and French troops attacked Egypt and occupied the
Suez Canal during the
Suez crisis.
1964 Bank of Alexandria acquired Banque du Nile and Import-Export Bank of Egypt.
October 17, 2006 The Egyptian government privatized Bank of Alexandria.
Sanpaolo IMI, the Italian bank which itself was acquired by
Banca Intesa, agreed to pay $1.6 billion for 80% of Bank of Alexandria. This was the first privatization in Egypt of a fully government-owned bank.