Monday, Mar 11, 2013
(This story was originally published Sunday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--National Bank of Bahrain (NBB.BH) and a local fund on Sunday said they jointly bought a 51.6% stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank amid signs of consolidation in the island state's domestic financial services sector.
NBB and Social Insurance Organization Asset Management Co. said they agreed terms with The Investment Dar to purchase its 51.6% stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank at 72 fils a share, according to a statement posted on the Bahrain bourse website.
NBB and SIOAM will each own 25.8% of the Islamic bank's shares. Based on the total amount of outstanding shares, the deal is worth around $93 million.
"This investment represents a strategic initiative for NBB. We have been looking for an appropriate opportunity to establish a footprint in the Islamic banking industry and BisB represents a suitable vehicle for us," said Abdul Razak Hassan Al Qassim, chief executive and director of NBB.
Other Bahrain-based banks have also expressed interest or actively been merging their operations, while the central bank governor earlier this month called for the banking sector to consolidate.
Three Bahrain-based Islamic banks--Elaf, Capital Management House and Capivest--finished their merger to create a new institution with assets of more than $400 million, the lead advisor on the merger said in January.
And Gulf Finance House (GFH.BH) said recently it is exploring the merger of Khaleeji Commercial Bank, in which it owns 47%, with other lenders in the Gulf state, while Ahli United Bank (AUB.BH) in February said it sold its 29.4% stake in a Qatari lender to the Qatar Foundation in a deal worth $615.9 million.
National Bank of Bahrain operates 25 branches in its domestic market. SIOAM is the investment arm of the military and private pension funds.
Write to Nicolas Parasie at nicolas.parasie@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-03-13 0345GMT
