AMMAN/DUBAI: A Jordanian consortium has bid for Saudi Oger’s 20 percent stake in Arab Bank Group after the family of Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair dropped its own $1.1 billion (SR4.13 billion) offer, banking sources said.
A deal with investors led by Arab Bank Group’s chairman Sabih Al-Masri, a leading Jordanian businessman with extensive holdings in banking and hotels, could be imminent, they said.
The Alhokair family was in talks to buy the stake in the Jordan-based bank, one of the Arab world’s largest privately owned banks, after Saudi Oger began seeking buyers to help ease cashflow problems.
The Arab Bank sale was expected to help Saudi Oger repay a $1.03 billion loan from regional and international banks due to mature in February. The Alhokair family and Saudi Oger were not immediately available for comment.
“A transaction has been finalized. Sabih Masri has put together a Jordanian led deal to purchase the shares from Oger after the Alhokair offer played itself out,” one source said, adding that the valuation was based on the bank’s share price.
Arab Bank’s shares closed at 6.06 dinars ($8.5) on Monday and bankers said the Alhokair family’s bid had been driven by the bank’s stock market value being well below its book value.
The banks’ 40 percent stake in Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank, was also a major attraction for the Alhokair family group, which is best known for its fashion retailing business. Two sources said the Jordanian consortium was not bidding with Alhokair and there was no auction.
“Alhokair is out for whatever reason and Sabih Al-Masri is in... it’s not a competition. The Jordanian group did not come in with a higher price,” one said.
It was not clear what had ended an Alhokair deal, but Jordanian authorities, who consider Arab Bank a pillar of the country’s economy, had resisted any non-Jordanian investor becoming the single largest shareholder in the bank.
“There has historically been a battle to keep the bank as Jordanian as possible. Whoever buys 20 percent and becomes the largest shareholder surely would influence it. This would have be alarming to the Jordanians,” a senior financial source said.
Some board members had questioned why a foreign investor should buy the stake at a fire sale price, a third source said.
Local investors were also angry that Alhokair was not seeking to buy the stake with its own money but mostly with cash raised from a banking syndicate, with the shares as collateral.
Arab Bank has assets of more than $46 billion, 600 branches on five continents and a reputation for withstanding political upheaval.
Jordan investors set to buy Arab Bank stake
Jordan investors set to buy Arab Bank stake
First EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials reflects shared policy commitment
RIYADH: The EU–Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Dialogue on Advancing Critical Raw Materials Value Chains, held in Riyadh as part of the Future Minerals Forum, brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to advance strategic cooperation across critical raw materials value chains.
Organized under a Team Europe approach by the EU–GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project, in coordination with the EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom and in close cooperation with FMF, the dialogue provided a high-level platform to explore European actions under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU alongside the Kingdom’s aspirations for minerals, industrial, and investment priorities.
This is in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and broader regional ambitions across the GCC, MENA, and Africa.
ResourceEU is the EU’s new strategic action plan, launched in late 2025, to secure a reliable supply of critical raw materials like lithium, rare earths, and cobalt, reducing dependency on single suppliers, such as China, by boosting domestic extraction, processing, recycling, stockpiling, and strategic partnerships with resource-rich nations.
The first ever EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials was opened by the bloc’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, Christophe Farnaud, together with Saudi Deputy Minister for Mining Development Turki Al-Babtain, turning policy alignment into concrete cooperation.
Farnaud underlined the central role of international cooperation in the implementation of the EU’s critical raw materials policy framework.
“As the European Union advances the implementation of its Critical Raw Materials policy, international cooperation is indispensable to building secure, diversified, and sustainable value chains. Saudi Arabia is a key partner in this effort. This dialogue reflects our shared commitment to translate policy alignment into concrete business and investment cooperation that supports the green and digital transitions,” said the ambassador.
Discussions focused on strengthening resilient, diversified, and responsible CRM supply chains that are essential to the green and digital transitions.
Participants explored concrete opportunities for EU–Saudi cooperation across the full value chain, including exploration, mining, and processing and refining, as well as recycling, downstream manufacturing, and the mobilization of private investment and sustainable finance, underpinned by high environmental, social, and governance standards.
From the Saudi side, the dialogue was framed as a key contribution to the Kingdom’s industrial transformation and long-term economic diversification agenda under Vision 2030, with a strong focus on responsible resource development and global market integration.
“Developing globally competitive mineral hubs and sustainable value chains is a central pillar of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s industrial transformation. Our engagement with the European Union through this dialogue to strengthen upstream and downstream integration, attract high-quality investment, and advance responsible mining and processing. Enhanced cooperation with the EU, capitalizing on the demand dynamics of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, will be key to delivering long-term value for both sides,” said Al-Babtain.
Valere Moutarlier, deputy director-general for European industry decarbonization, and directorate-general for the internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs at European Commission, said the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU provided a clear framework to strengthen Europe’s resilience while deepening its cooperation with international partners.
“Cooperation with Saudi Arabia is essential to advancing secure, sustainable, and diversified critical raw materials value chains. Dialogues such as this play a key role in translating policy ambitions into concrete industrial and investment cooperation,” she added.
