National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has announced the results of its offer to acquire 100% of shares in Baharin Islamic Bank (BisB), after its initial offer was opened last December.
In its offer, NBB has received acceptance for the acquisition of 529,424,282 ordinary shares. The results of the offer enables the bank to increase its stake in BisB from 29.6% to 78.8% stake.
Launched in last month, the offer is part of NBB’s efforts to further develop its Islamic banking activities and to offer its client base a full range of banking services that are both conventional and Islamic.
The deal is also expected to strengthen the two brands, which will continue to operate as two independent bank across local and regional markets.
The transaction could also strengthen the asset, revenue, cost, operational and other synergies for the two banks that could result in improved returns.
National Bank of Bahrain chairman Farouk Yousuf Khalil AlMoayyed said: “NBB has always been keen on diversifying its offering portfolio and developing its capabilities to capture business opportunities locally and regionally. This decision was a result of our strategic vision for the business and reinforcing our group’s presence in the Islamic Banking market.
“BisB has played a pivotal role in the development of the Islamic Banking sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain and following continuous screening opportunities we chose what we believe would strengthen our position in the industry. Increasing our shareholding in BisB will allow us to become more effective in certain markets, especially where Sharia-compliant businesses play a vital role in.”
Majority of BisB shareholders opted for cash to sell their shares
It is claimed that out of the shareholders who had agreed for the takeover, 93.55% were institutional shareholders and the remaining 6.45% were individual shareholders.
A 94.95% of those who accepted the deal, opted for cash offer of BHD0.117 ($0.31) per BisB share and the remaining shareholders opted to swap their shares with newly issued NBB for an exchange ratio of 0.167 NBB shares per BisB share.
Settlement of the deal could take place on 22 January. BisB will continue to operate in a normal course, maintaining its operations as NBB’s subsidiary.
All BisB shareholders, who did not take part in the offer, will continue as shareholders of BisB.
National Bank of Bahrain CEO Jean-Christophe Durand said: “We are very pleased with the success of our Offer. It gives us significant control of BisB and will allow us to implement our strategic vision for a more integrated banking group. We expect the acquisition of BisB to generate significant synergies, improved efficiencies and contribute to profitability.
“While the two banks will remain independent, I look forward to working with the teams of both banks on the successful implementation of synergies in full respect of the culture of the two institutions.”
