Kuwait’s Warba Bank to acquire nearly 33% stake in Gulf Bank

Kuwait’s Warba Bank has agreed to acquire Alghanim Trading’s 32.75 per cent stake in Gulf Bank in a deal valued at $1.62bn (KWD498.2m).

“The transfer of the shares will be completed upon obtaining the necessary approval from the regulatory authorities,” the Kuwait lender said in a bourse filing.

Warba Bank expects the financial impact of the deal to be reflected in its quarterly financial results upon the completion of the deal.

Last July, Gulf Bank, Kuwait’s fifth-largest bank overall, and Boubyan Bank, the country’s second-largest Islamic bank, said that they were exploring a potential merger to create a single Islamic bank with $53bn in assets as part of a plan to fuel growth and expansion.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Financial House (KFH Group) sold an 18.18 per cent stake in Sharjah Islamic Bank for $351m (Dhs1.3bn) to the Endowment of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saqer Al Qasimi, the Sharjah Social Security Fund and Sharjah Islamic Bank.

KFH is also studying the potential withdrawal from the Malaysian market and the sale of its retail banking portfolio in the country, KFH Malaysia.

Furthermore, Burgan Bank secured approvals from the central banks of Kuwait and Bahrain in December to buy a 100 per cent equity stake in United Gulf Bank for $190m as part of the bank’s asset reallocation strategy. The acquisition is projected to close in Q1 2025.

Read: Kuwaiti lenders Boubyan Bank and Gulf Bank weigh merger