Morocco’s Attijariwafa bank has offered more than USD500mn to buy Barclays Bank Egypt, Attiwariwafa bank’s development manager, Nabil Kadiri told Al Borsa. Kadiri expects Barclays could make a decision on the sale in as little as two weeks, noting that Attijariwafa will look at other targets if it fails in its run at Barclays. Attijariwafa bank and Emirates NBD both submitted bids to acquire Barclays Bank Egypt earlier this month. According to media reports, the shareholders’ equity size of Barclays Bank Egypt is cUSD400mn. The reported offer by Attijariwafa bank would imply valuing Barclays Bank Egypt at c1.3x. This is at a discount to recent M&A deals in Egypt banking sector: Piraeus Bank was bought at 1.5x P/B in 2015, BNP Paribas Egypt also at c1.5x in 2013 and NSGB was bought in 2012 at 2.0x. (Al Borsa, Bloomberg, Reuters, Elena Sanchez-Cabezudo, CFA)