Habib Bank Limited has entered into an agreement to purchase the entire shareholding of the minority shareholder of its foreign subsidiary—Habib Allied Holding Limited (HAHL), according to its quarterly financial report.
The bank will acquire 9.50 percent of HAHL’s share capital owned by Allied Bank Limited in accordance with a deal, which is subject to the approval of the State Bank of Pakistan as the formal mandatory exercise.
Currently, HBL holds 90.50 percent of the shareholding in HAHL, while the remaining 9.5 percent shareholding is owned by Allied Bank Limited.
Habib Allied Holding Limited (HAHL), UK, is a subsidiary of Habib Bank Limited having four branches — two in London and one each in Birmingham and Zurich. It is the holding company of HBL Bank UK.
HBL proposed to purchase ABL’s entire 9.5 percent shareholding in HAHL, this will result in HAHL becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of HBL.
The foreign banking operations of the Pakistani bank witnessed a transition of shareholding and mode of operations at different times in the past.
HBL established its first branch in the UK in 1961. In 2001, the UK branches of HBL and Allied Bank Limited transferred their business to Habib Allied International Bank (HAIB) and began trading as Habib Bank UK. HAIB acquired 100 percent shareholding in Habibsons Bank Limited (HSB), a bank incorporated in the UK.
Following the acquisition, the banking business of HAIB was merged with HSB in December 2014 through a statutory transfer of business and continued trading as Habibsons Bank. In September 2015, HAIB changed its name to Habib Allied Holding Limited. In December 2018, both the trading and registered name of Habibsons Bank was changed to HBL Bank UK Limited.
