EFG Hermes, the Middle East’s top investment bank, said a merger deal with Qatari investment company QInvest will lapse on May 3 unless it receives long-awaited approval from Egyptian regulators.

EFG said it had received regulatory approval from a number of countries for the deal, under which it would initially inject its core business into a joint venture 60 per cent controlled by QInvest.

“If EFG does not receive a ‘no objection’ from the (Egyptian Financial Supervisory) Authority in the coming days, it will be difficult to implement the joint venture agreement,” the Egyptian company said.

The joint venture would inject more than $300 million of direct investment into the Egyptian economy, EFG said.-Reuters