Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is considering selling its 24.9 per cent stake in RHB Capital, Malaysia's fifth-largest bank.
ADCB received approval from Malaysia's central bank on Friday to begin discussions about a sale to Aabar Investments, owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, according to a statement on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange website.
The discussions were part of a "strategic review" of the investment in RHB Capital, the statement said.
ADCB bought the stake in 2008 for around Dh4.5 billion (US$1.22bn) in what was then hailed as the biggest investment from the Gulf into Malaysia's financial sector.
The Abu Dhabi lender has for weeks been gauging interest among possible suitors for its RHB Capital holding.
Earlier reports said Maybank and CIMB, two other Malaysian banks, planned to make bids for it. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group of Japan and Carlyle Group, a global buyout company, were also said to be interested.
A possible takeover of the stake by Aabar would add to a rapidly growing portfolio of companies in sectors ranging from aerospace to cars.
Aabar, which is controlled by the Abu Dhabi Government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company, has a stake in Daimler, the German car giant, and Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson's commercial space flight venture.
Aabar also owns part of the Mercedes GP Formula One team and about 5 per cent of UniCredit, one of Italy's biggest banks.
The Abu Dhabi company took over AIG's former Swiss private banking unit in 2009 and renamed it Falcon Private Bank.
Aabar's total assets are worth more than $10bn, according to financial reports from last year.
A sale of RHB by ADCB to Aabar would effectively transfer the stake from one Abu Dhabi Government-owned entity to another.
ADCB itself is majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, a government investment company.
afitch@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28