The General Assembly of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) decided today whether or not to form the seventh-largest bank in the Gulf with assets totaling 115 billion dollars.
During the meeting, KFH announced that its shareholders had approved all the terms related to the acquisition of Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank. Under the revised terms, KFH will offer one share for every 2.695 shares of Ahli.
The general assembly also approved the Shari’a Supervisory Board’s report on the project to acquire Ahli United Bank and convert its subsidiaries and affiliated banks into Islamic Shari’a-compliant businesses, according to a statement.
The meeting also agreed to endorse the assessment of in-kind assets performed by one of the Capital Markets Authority’s approved evaluators in relation to the increase in the issued capital of KFH. The session further consented to renew the previous Ordinary General Assembly resolution on the Bahrain Stock Exchange listing of KFH.
On Wednesday, the Bahraini Central Bank had given “Kuwait Finance House” its approval to acquire “Ahli United Bank of Bahrain”, and the Central Bank of Kuwait approved the acquisition deal last July 6.
Two weeks ago, the “Kuwait Finance House” agreed to buy “Ahli United Bank” for about $11.6 billion, a deal that has been in preparation for about 4 years, which would create the seventh largest bank in the Gulf with assets of $115 billion.
It is noteworthy that in 2020, the Central Bank of Kuwait asked the “Kuwait Finance House” to re-evaluate the deal in light of the outbreak of the Corona epidemic. The value of the initial offer in 2019 was estimated at $8.8 billion, as “Kuwait Finance House” offered one share for every 2.32558 shares of Al Ahli United.
According to the revised terms of the deal, KFH will offer one share for every 2,695 AlAhli United shares, which means a price per share of $1.04, a 13% premium over the July 6 closing price.
Kuwait Finance House Bank was established in 1977, and was listed on the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange in 1984. It is one of the most prominent banks in Kuwait, and works in providing banking services, buying and selling real estate in accordance with the provisions of Islamic Sharia, according to the bank’s data on the stock exchange website.
As for the “Ahli United Bank” in Bahrain, it was established in May 2000, following the merger between the United Bank of Kuwait and the National Commercial Bank. The bank has a presence in a number of foreign markets, including the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya and Oman, according to its website.
