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Kuwait: US$92b Islamic lender to be created in new merger

By  |  July 17, 2018

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is seeking to hold talks with Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank for a potential merger that would create an Islamic lender with about US$92 billion of assets, six months after negotiations broke down over price.

KFH sent a letter inviting Ahli United to sign a memorandum of understanding and a non-disclosure agreement to start valuation studies, the Kuwait-based bank announced in a statement on Monday, July 16.

The lender wants “to explore the possibility to unify the businesses and assess the feasibility of establishing a new banking entity,” KFH said.

If a merger proceeds, the total assets of the two banks would be US$90.57 billion, making it the sixth largest bank in the Gulf, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Islamic lenders, as the term implies, are financial institutions whose practices comply with sharia law, for example by avoiding fees or interests that are considered usurious.

Full Content: CPI Financial

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