CAIRO- EFG Hermes, Egypt's biggest investment bank, has completed its takeover of state-owned Arab Investment Bank, transforming itself into an Egyptian universal bank, it said on Thursday.

EFG Hermes agreed to purchase a 51% stake in the bank in May, with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt also acquiring a 25% stake and the current owner, Egypt's state-owned National Investment Bank (NIB), retaining 24%. 

It is Egypt's first bank privatisation in more than a decade.

With the takeover, EFG Hermes will be an investment bank, a commercial bank and a platform for non-bank financial institutions, it said in an emailed statement.

(Writing by Patrick Werr Editing by Mark Potter) ((patrick.werr@thomsonreuters.com;))