SICO to acquire stake in Bank Muscat subsidiary

Published 20 Dec,2020 via Muscat Daily - Bank Muscat and Bahrain-based investment bank SICO have agreed to go ahead with SICO’s offer to acquire a majority stake in Muscat Capital Company, a wholly-owned Saudi-based subsidiary of Bank Muscat.

Earlier in April this year Bank Muscat had received SICO’s acquisition offer for a majority stake in Muscat Capital and the bank’s board of directors had agreed to explore the offer.

Riyadh-based Muscat Capital has a book value of approximately SAR80mn as on June 30, 2020 (equivalent to approximately RO8.2mn).

‘We would like to disclose that the necessary due diligence and valuation exercise was completed, the negotiations on the terms of the transaction were concluded and the board of directors approvals were obtained by both parties,’ Bank Muscat said in a disclosure to the Muscat Securities Market on Sunday.

The disclosure informed that Bank Muscat and SICO have agreed to go forward with the transaction by signing the necessary agreements.

Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, SICO shall acquire approximately 72.71 per cent stake in Muscat Capital through transfer of all its treasury shares to Bank Muscat. ‘This would result in Bank Muscat owning approximately 9 per cent shareholding in SICO upon completion of the transaction,’ Bank Muscat said.

The closing of the transaction between Bank Muscat and SICO is subject to receipt of requisite regulatory approvals in Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, according to the Bank Muscat disclosure.

Fully-owned by Bank Muscat, Muscat Capital is a full-service investment banking firm based in Riyadh, that offers a comprehensive range of financial services to individual, institutional and corporate clients.

On the other hand, SICO is a leading regional asset manager, broker and investment bank with more than US$2.1bn in assets under management, as per the information available on the bank’s website.

A leading boutique asset manager focused on GCC and MENA mandates, SICO offers unique investment plays across the equity, fixed income and real estate asset classes.

© Apex Press and Publishing. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info)

DISCLAIMER: This content is provided to us “as is” and unedited by an external third party provider. We cannot attest to or guarantee the accuracy of information provided in this article from the external third party provider. We do not endorse any views or opinions included in this article.