The government-owned daily said Bank Audi paid $35 per share, for a total of $ 94 million, to close the deal.

Both bank Audi and Qatar Islamic Bank were granted permission by the Central Bank of Egypt in November to conduct due diligence preparations on CFEB in preparation for a possible acquisition.

The board of the Egyptian financial company EFG-Hermes Holding SA (HRHO.CI) had in its turn approved the acquisition of not less than 20% of Lebanon's Bank Audi Jan. 5.

Bank Audi is a private Lebanese bank and part of the Audi Saradar group, which had $10.5 billion in assets at the end of December 2004.

State-owned Banque Du Caire had a 30% stake in Cairo Far East Bank. Banque Du Caire itself is currently being managed by the board of Banque Misr (BQM.YY), another state-owned bank, in preparation for a full merger.

The restructuring process in Egypt's banking sector aims to reduce the number of banks operating in Egypt to about 36 from 56, with the central bank guaranteeing all depositors and staff rights.

The central bank said in late September that the process would be complete in six months.