Two lists face-off in ABL elections. Sfeir leads a ‘List for Change’ VS. Torbey’s ‘Banking Decision List’

Salim Sfeir, Chairman of Bank of Beirut, is spearheading a list of eight bankers against the list of four-time Chairman of Association of Banks in Lebanon, Joseph Torbey.

With his "List for Change", Sfeir promised to "carry out a series of reform measures to improve the efficiency and performance of ABL."

Sfeir is planning to follow up the issue of U.S. sanctions with American officials. His criticism was that middle-sized and smaller banks have no say in the ABL's agenda.

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EuroMena buys stake in Moroccan retailer. Two funds will be launched within six months

Beirut-based EuroMena Funds has acquired a seven percent stake in Retail Holding, a Morocco-based diversified retail group for a total of 220 million Moroccan dirhams ($22.5 million), according to the Casablanca Stock Exchange.

Retail Holding acts as franchisee for French retail giant Carrefour, apparel retailer Kiabi, Virgin Megastore, and Burger King.

The investment, which was carried out through the fund EuroMena III, will be mainly used to finance the expansion of Retail Holdin...

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$3.2 million for UK-Lebanon Tech Hub. Fund provided by BDL

Nicolas Sehnaoui, Chairman of the UKLTH, announced a fund of $3.5 million as an investment for the UK-Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH). The fund is being provided by the Central Bank (BDL). The amount matches the $2.5 million investment provided by the British Embassy in February this year.

According to Dimitri Papadimitriou, Acting Director of UKLTH, the money will go toward the efforts of the UKLTH to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem and improve the knowledge economy.

"Ultimately,...

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GroupMed mulls selling shares in IPO. Khawaja completes acquisition of 42.2 percent stake

GroupMed Holding, the owner of Bankmed, is considering launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its shares in the near future, said Alaa Al Khawaja, a new shareholder in the company.

Khawaja said that his acquisition of 42.24 percent stake in GroupMed "will pave the way for increasing and diversifying the ownership structure of GroupMed which could result in an IPO in the near future."

After obtaining the Central Bank's approval, Khawaja completed the acquisition of the stake,...

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Angel network initiative launched. Targets young CEOs from traditional sectors

The Angels Lebanon initiative has been launched by Nicolas Sehnaoui, Chairman of the UK Lebanon Teck Hub (UKLTH), with support from Marwan Kheireddine, Chairman of Al Mawarid Bank. The initiative aims to target young CEOs from traditional sectors like the auto sector, manufacturers, industrialists to invest in the tech sector, especially startups, according to Sehnaoui.

"We could make the CEOs aware of what is happening in the tech sector, raise their appetite in investing in it, and rec...

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