Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank Agrees Share-Swap Merger With BMI Bank

Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank has agreed to merge with fellow Bahraini lender BMI Bank, an affiliate of Oman’s Bank Muscat, through a share swap agreement, a statement from the bank said on Monday.

Islamic lender Al Salam will exchange 11 of its shares for each BMI Bank share. The tie-up is still subject to shareholder approval, with meetings to vote on assent due to be held in either September or October, the statement added.

Al Salam and BMI Bank, 49 per cent owned by Oman’s Bank Muscat, first announced in May they were looking at a merger which would create the Kingdom’s third-largest bank by assets.