Banks that have been shortlisted to bid and allowed to conduct due diligence are Saudi Arabia’s Samba, the UK's Standard Chartered, a consortium of Jordan’s Arab Bank and Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank, National Bank of Greece, and the UAE’s Mashreq.

The shortlisted banks began due diligence in early March. Buyers will be able to buy between 51 per cent and 67 per cent of Egypt’s third largest lender. Twelve banks originally expressed an interest in acquiring Banque du Caire.