Alawwal bank and SABB merger receives ‘Deal of the Year’ award

November 2019

 

Riyadh, XX October 2019 – The merger of Alawwal bank and SABB has been awarded ‘Domestic Deal of the Year’ at the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Middle East Awards. The merger made Saudi banking history, creating the third largest bank by assets in the Kingdom.

Soren Nikolajsen, Deputy Managing Director, Transformation at SABB (and former Managing Director of Alawwal bank), commented: “A merger of this scale and complexity has never been attempted in Saudi Arabia. This was a transformational deal that’s written the book for future mergers in the Kingdom. We faced an epic challenge but were driven by the opportunity to create the best bank in the Kingdom.”

The legal merger of the two banks completed on 16th June, joining two of the longest running banking legacies in Saudi Arabia. The completion of the deal highlights the maturity of Saudi’s capital markets, supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy of diversifying the economy and facilitating international investment.

Nikolajsen added: “It’s great the hard work that went into this merger has been recognized at these awards. This took a lot of effort from many parties, especially our legal teams Baker McKenzie and Clifford Chance. I would also like to thank our staff, whether they were directly involved in the merger, or making sure customers still received a first-class business as usual service – everyone played their part.”

The combined bank has cemented its position as a top tier financial institution in the Kingdom with SAR 257bn* of total assets and a total revenue of SAR 10.9bn*. The merger creates greater scale and capacity to support an increasingly diverse customer base, while offering unrivalled international connectivity for retail, corporate and institutional clients.

The IFLR Middle East Awards Ceremony is hosted annually, celebrating the most innovative transactions achieved and the teams that work on them.