Qatar National Bank (QNB) Group said it has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake of 97.12 per cent in National Société Générale Bank - Egypt (NSGB), a unit of top French lender Societe Generale.

NSGB is the second largest private bank in Egypt with 160 branches across the country, and more than 4,500 employees.

Egypt's regulator had in February approved the QNB offer after insisting that the Qatari lender buy 100 per cent of Egypt's second-largest private sector bank by market value rather than the originally planned 77 per cent stake.
 
According to experts, Societe Generale had sold its majority stake in the Egyptian unit to QNB for $2 billion, as part of the French bank's bid to meet new capital requirements.

The final percentage of shares acquired by QNB are 97.12 per cent which includes Société Générale's entire stake in NSGB of 77.17 per cent and 19.95 per cent via the mandatory tender offer, the Qatari bank said in its statement.

Egypt is the fourth largest economy in Mena region and a market that is integral to QNB in achieving its goal to become a Middle East and Africa Icon by 2017, it added.-TradeArabia News Service