Shuaa confirms talks for extra Amwal shares

Shuaa Capital, based in Dubai, is in discussions to acquire Amwal International Investment Company, after buying a minority stake in the Kuwaiti investment bank in July.

Shuaa, the top investment bank in the Arabian Gulf before the 2008 financial crisis, said it was negotiating a “potential acquisition of Amwal” in a statement posted yesterday on the Dubai stock exchange.

“Shuaa Capital has not yet signed any document pertaining to this transaction and will keep the market posted on developments,” it said.

In a Boursa Kuwait filing on Monday, Amwal said Shuaa intended to take its shareholding in the bank to 75 to 100 per cent, sending its shares soaring. Shuaa did not say what size stake it was seeking in Amwal.

Shuaa has been in expansion mode since returning to profitability last year.

Shuaa aimed to invest in fellow Kuwaiti bank Global Investment House and Bahrain’s GFH, but both attempts were abandoned.

In July Shuaa bought a 8 per cent stake in Amwal, whose main investments include a 51 per cent stake in online trading platform Noor Capital Markets.

The acquisition took Shuaa’s stake in the bank to 11 per cent, the remainder owned by subsidiary Gulf Finance Corporation.

Last year, the bank acquired two financial services firms – Integrated Capital and Integrated Securities – from its biggest shareholder, the Abu Dhabi Financial Group.

Shuaa’s profit for the nine months to the end of September rose to Dh60 million, compared with a net loss of Dh113.6m a year earlier.