Bank of America takes stake in Dubai's Emirates NBD

Global lending giant Bank of America Corp. (BofA) has bought a stake in Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, for approximately AED900 million, sources familiar with the matter told Arabian Business.

The North Carolina-based bank is believed to have bought 100 million shares – about 1.51% - of Emirates NBD.

The DFM-listed bank achieved a record net profit of AED14.5 billion and total assets in excess of AED 683 billion in 2019. In the same year it completed its acquisition of Turkey-based DenizBank, which increased its presence to 13 countries and its customer base to over 14 million in the MENAT region.

Both banks have adopted artificial intelligence and virtual assistants, with Emirates NBD’s Eva being the first of its kind in the MENA region, and BofA’s Erica surging to record popularity with consumers during the pandemic.

The UAE’s banking sector has felt the brunt of a plunge in oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, with the country’s top 10 lenders reporting a combined 6.3% quarter-on-quarter drop in interest income, according to an analysis by Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) in Q1 2020.

Emirates NBD also saw its Q1 profit drop 24% to AED2.08 billion, while Dubai’s Mashreq Bank recorded a 28% drop and Oman’s Bank Muscat posted a 27% decline.​