KFH Says its Bahrain Unit Seeks to Merge 3 Islamic Banks - Bloomberg

Kuwait Finance House (KFIN)’s unit in Bahrain is leading efforts to merge three Islamic lenders into a bank valued at $400 million, the Kuwait-based financial services company said today.

The creation of the biggest Islamic bank in Bahrain and one of the biggest in the region will “serve as a platform for further merging operations in Bahrain and other markets in the area,” Kuwait Finance said in an e-mailed statement, citing KFH-Bahrain Chief Executive Officer Abdul Hakim al-Khayyat.

The banks to be merged will be named “in a few weeks” when negotiations reach an advanced stage. The new Islamic bank will have assets of $500 million and should take six to nine months to form, Kuwait Finance said.

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