Attijariwafa Bank sells 50 pct of Wafa Assurance parent OGM to SNI

RABAT, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 27 (Reuters) - Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank said it will sell 50 percent of OGM Holding, the parent company of Morocco's biggest insurance company Wafa Assurance, to the royal holding firm National Investment Co. (SNI) ahead of buying Barclays Egypt.

Attijariwafa said it is looking to solidify its solvency ratios in order to get regulatory approval for buying Barclays (Swiss: BARC.SW - news) Egypt.

SNI will buy the stake at 3,250 dirhams per share, against a closing price of 3,670 dirhams on Thursday, valuing Wafa Assurance at about 11.4 billion dirhams ($1.15 billion).

OGM controls 79.29 percent of Wafa Assurance.

SNI has a 47.83 percent stake in Attijariwafa Bank, while Wafa Assurance holds a minority stake of 6.61 percent.

SNI, controlled by the Moroccan royal family, is the largest private stakeholder in the North African kingdom's economy. ($1 = 9.8897 Moroccan dirham) (Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)