First Abu Dhabi Bank reiterates not eyeing offer for Standard Chartered

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the United Arab Emirates’ biggest lender, said on Friday it was not currently evaluating an offer for Britain’s Standard Chartered, the second time it has quashed reports of an imminent bid.

News of the potential offer first came on Jan. 5, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so.

StanChart’s shares fell nearly 5% early on Friday following the statement, having risen 11% the day before after Bloomberg News reported that the Abu Dhabi lender was considering reviving the bid once a lock-up period that prevents it immediately doing so expires.

“First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC notes the recent press speculation in relation to Standard Chartered and re-iterates that it is not evaluating a possible offer for Standard Chartered,” the lender said in Friday’s statement.

FAB was considering offering $30 billion to $35 billon, the Bloomberg report said.

StanChart, which has for decades been the subject of takeover rumours without a deal ever materialising, had a market value of nearly $27 billion, based on Thursday’s closing price.

FAB in its statement said that it and related parties reserve “the right to announce an offer or possible offer for the company or make or participate in an offer or possible offer for the company,” within six months of the date of this announcement.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga, additional reporting by Lawrence White in London; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Tomasz Janowski)