Kuwaiti lender sells stake in Sharjah Islamic Bank for $351m

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the nation’s largest lender, has sold its entire stake in Abu Dhabi-listed Sharjah Islamic Bank for AED1.3 billion ($351 million).

The off-market sale, also known as a negotiated deal, was executed at AED2.20 per share for 588 million shares, the lender said in a filing on Borsa Kuwait.

Off-market trades are based on a prior agreement between the buyer and seller to execute the transaction at an agreed price and quantity, according to the Kuwaiti bourse website.

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The shares were sold to the Endowment of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saqer Al Qasimi, Sharjah Social Security Fund and Sharjah Islamic Bank.

The transaction is contingent upon receiving the regulatory approvals.

In February, KFH completed a merger with Ahli United Bank of Kuwait, the first banking sector merger in the Gulf nation.

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The lender completed the $11.6 billion cross-border acquisition of Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank-Bahrain in July 2022.

In April, Al Salam Bank, a sharia-compliant lender in Bahrain, signed definitive agreements to acquire the entire stake in KFH’s subsidiary in the kingdom.