Posted at 11:13 a.m., Tuesday, July 17, 2007
First Hawaiian owner buys 19 percent of Sahara Bank
Advertiser Staff and News Services
BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank and the parent company of First Hawaiian Bank, bought 19 percent of Libya's state-owned Sahara Bank for 145 million euros ($200 million) as part of its strategy to expand its business in the countries around the Mediterranean.The Paris-based lender will take over running the bank and has an option to raise its holding to as much as 51 percent over the next three to five years, BNP Paribas said in an e-mailed statement today.
Sahara Bank controls 17 percent of the Libyan loan market and 22 percent of the country's deposits. Its network of 48 branches has over 300,000 private and corporate customers, according to BNP Paribas.
