BankMuscat to buy 35% stake in SPCB

24 January 2008

Muscat: BankMuscat is acquiring a majority stake in Saudi Pak Commercial Bank (SPCB) in Pakistan in association with Sinthos Capital, International Finance Corporation, Washington and Nomura International.

The consortium has already signed the share purchase agreement with Saudi Pak Investment Company (Sapico) to buy a 68 per cent stake in the Bank. BankMuscat's total stake in the SPCB will be 35 per cent.

BankMuscat has obtained the necessary regulatory approvals in Oman to go ahead with this investment. An approval from the State Bank of Pakistan, the country's banking regulator, is currently awaited.

Shaikh Abdul Malik bin Abdullah Al Khalili, Chairman of BankMuscat, said: "Pakistan and Oman have historically had longstanding economic and social ties. Our entry into the country is therefore both strategically and commercially important to us. We will be pleased to be of service to the local business community in Pakistan and hope this move will further strengthen our ties with members of the community who are well settled across the GCC region.

"We definitely look forward to contributing significantly to the economic and social development of Pakistan, even as we take another step toward fulfiling our goal of establishing a significant presence in countries that have an abiding interest in Oman and the GCC region."

As per the consortium agreement, Sinthos Capital will manage the bank. Sinthos Capital is an organisation founded by Shaukat Tarin and Sadeq Sayeed.