Summit Bank Agrees to Sell 51% Shares to UAE Investor

Summit Bank has agreed to sell at least 51 percent of its voting shares to a UAE-based investor at Rs. 2.51 per share. According to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Summit Bank received an offer from the Chairman of the Nasser Abdulla Lootah Group, Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah, for him to acquire at least 51 percent of the voting shares in the bank. The Board of Directors considered the offer at the Emergent Board Meeting on 4 October at a discount price of Rs. 2.51 per share. After subscription, the acquirer will purchase the existing shares from the minority shareholders through a public tender offer. This will bring the acquirer’s shareholding to at least 51 percent and will enable them to gain management control. The Head of Research at JS Global, Amreen Soorani, told Dawn News that the transaction’s final amount size cannot be determined at this point in time. Nasser Abdullah Hussain Lootah is the former Chairman and director of Summit Bank who expressed his offer to acquire major shares of the bank last year to the bank’s board and the management earlier last year. The investor already owns 0.51 percent shares in the bank. Lootah also has controlling shares in two Pakistani companies — 95 percent in Global Haly Developments Limited and 80 percent in Lootah Energy Private Limited. The Lootah family is also the biggest shareholder in Dubai Islamic Bank. At present, Suroor Investments Limited holds a 66.77 percent stake in the bank, while Rupali Bank owns 1.24 percent shares in the bank. Summit Bank is currently worth about Rs. 7.75 billion on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Its share price rose by 13 percent to Rs. 2.94 on Monday, after having surged nearly 22 percent during the past week. The bank reported an annual net loss of Rs. 8.7 billion in 2018 after posting losses of Rs. 1.9 billion and Rs. 2.1 billion respectively in the previous two years.