EFG-Hermes acts as sole financial advisor to Actis on the CIB transaction

London-based private equity firm Actis announced today it will pay $244m for a 9.3% stake in Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt's leading private-sector commercial bank.

The transaction will see Actis become the largest single shareholder in CIB as it purchases 50% of a stake held by a consortium led by New York-based private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings.

EFG-Hermes Investment Banking acted as the sole financial advisor to Actis on this deal, which stands as the largest M&A transaction in Egypt for the year. The Actis-CIB deal came just weeks after EFG-Hermes, the leading investment bank in the Arab world, orchestrated the $1.6bn merger between Zain Jordan and Palestine Telecom.

EFG-Hermes clarifies its role on this deal. The role was providing support to Actis's Financial Institutions team with regards to the valuation analysis based on publicly available information, the competitive landscape and the execution strategy.

"Actis's investment highlights the robustness of the Egyptian economy as well as the resilience and long-term prospects of the Egyptian banking sector. This landmark transaction is another vote of confidence in our leading M&A advisory franchise,"

said Karim Awad, Head of Investment Banking at EFG-Hermes.

Including the Actis transaction, EFG-Hermes Investment Banking has advised on M&A transactions worth a combined $1.9bn so far in 2009.