Three Abu Dhabi lenders agree to merge, creating $114b bank

DUBAI, Jan 29 (Reuters): Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank said on Tuesday the banks have agreed on a three-way merger, creating the third-largest bank in the United Arab Emirates.

Under the deal, ADCB will issue 0.5966 shares for every UNB share, corresponding to a total of 1.64 billion new shares issued to UNB shareholders.

The exchange ratio implies a premium to UNB shareholders of 0.6 per cent versus the closing price of

the previous trading day, the statement said, valuing UNB at nearly $4 billion. Al Hilal Bank will operate as a separate Islamic entity within the merged bank.

The banks announced in September that they were in preliminary talks about a three-way merger, which will create a bank with assets of $114 billion.