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Bloomberg
Saudi Oger Ltd. reached a preliminary agreement to sell its 20 percent stake in Jordan’s Arab Bank Plc to Fawaz Al Hokair Group for about $1.1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The two family-owned companies plan to make a formal announcement after receiving regulatory approval, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Saudi banks are providing financing to Alhokair, the people said. No final agreement has been reached, and there’s no guarantee the sale will go through, they said. Representatives for Saudi Oger, Arab Bank and Alhokair weren’t immediately available to comment.
A sale of the stake in Arab Bank, Jordan’s largest lender, will help Saudi Oger repay some of its debts, one of the people said. The construction company, owned by Lebanese Prime Minister-Designate Saad Hariri’s family, is looking for ways to raise funds as the Saudi Arabian government cuts spending in reaction to the drop in oil prices.
The family has also begun talks to sell a stake in its Dubai-based telecommunications provider after missing a payment on a $4.75 billion loan, people with knowledge of the matter said in October. Shares in Arab Bank rose 0.3 percent to close at 5.97 dinars in Amman on Monday, giving the company a market value of about $5.4 billion.