Bank of Beirut expands operations with Australia Bank Laiki acquisition

11 March 2011

BEIRUT: Bank of Beirut held a ceremony Thursday to officially announce the acquisition of Australian Bank Laiki for $420 million.

Speaking at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beirut, chairman and general manager of Bank of Beirut Salim Sfeir said the acquisition of the Australian bank was a major step for the Bank of Beirut, adding that the negotiations to buy the bank had not been easy.

“We literally negotiated for 16 months with the bank and the Central Bank of Australia and we produced all the documents to the authorities to show that we are capable of managing the bank,” Sfeir said.

He stressed that huge sums went into the acquisition, in what is considered the largest banking investment outside Lebanon, an amount that surpassed $420 million.

Sfeir expressed his gratitude to the Lebanese regulatory authorities, namely Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, the Banking Control Commission and the various departments at the Central Bank for their cooperation.

The new bank will be called Beirut Hellenic Bank – Australia.

Sfeir said that the bank, with nearly $1 billion in assets and 10 branches in Australia, would offer all sorts of banking services to the large Lebanese community in Australia. The bank plans to open eight more branches in Australia over the next three years.

Bank of Beirut declared consolidated, unaudited net profits of $100.7 million in 2010, constituting a rise of 35.3 percent from 2009. Total assets reached $8 billion at the end of 2010, up 14.8 percent from end-2009; with loans rising by 33.5 percent year-on-year to $2.25 billion.

Bank of Beirut is the only Lebanese bank operating in Australia.

At present, Lebanese banks operate in 31 countries as part of a drive to diversify revenues. – The Daily Star