Oman’s Ahli Bank disapproves merger offer from Bank Dhofar

Oman’s Ahli Bank disapproves merger offer from Bank Dhofar

DUBAI: Ahli Bank in Oman said on Wednesday its board disapproved a merger offer from Oman's second-biggest lender Bank Dhofar.

Ahli Bank, part owned by Bahrain's Ahli Bank, said in a bourse filing its board decided not to accept a non-binding merger offer from Bank Dhofar.

"The Board of Directors has studied the proposal and decided not to accept it," the statement said without providing a reason for the board's decision.

The smaller lender announced on Tuesday it received an offer to combine with Bank Dhofar, which would have created an entity with more than $19 billion in assets.

Bank Dhofar has $11.2 billion in assets, while Ahli Bank in Oman has about $7.9 billion in assets, financial statements showed.

Last year, HSBC Bank Oman and local rival Sohar International Bank entered into a binding merger agreement, which was awarded approval from the central bank in February. The merger is expected to complete in the second half of this year.

(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian Schmollinger)

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