Sharjah makes enhanced offer for struggling Invest Bank

The Government of Sharjah has made an enhanced offer to invest in struggling Invest Bank and the bank’s shareholders will vote on the deal on January 8, the lender said on Sunday.

Sharjah had earlier offered to invest up to Dhs1.9bn ($517m) in Invest Bank, one of the smaller banks in the UAE.

A shareholder vote had been scheduled for December 29, but the meeting was adjourned until January 8 to vote on the enhanced offer, the lender said in a stock exchange filing.

It did not give details of what the enhanced offer entailed.

The UAE central bank had asked Invest Bank to book provisions worth Dhs2.199bn ($599m), which would have wiped off its equity of Dhs2.154bn.

Under the previous offer, the Government of Sharjah had planned to take a 50.07 per cent stake in the bank after the issuance of new shares and offered to back its rights issue in the new year, according to Invest Bank.

Barclays is advising Invest Bank for the fund raising programme and HSBC is advising the Sharjah government.

Read: Sharjah government plans to invest $517m in Invest Bank