DOHA: Qatar’s Commercial Bank said on Thursday it has made an offer to buy an additional stake of 15.2 percent stake in National Bank of Oman for 49.4 million rials ($128 million).
The deal will boost Commercial Bank’s stake in the Omani lender to over 50 percent, keeping it as the biggest shareholder ahead of the government of Oman’s 26.2 percent stake, according to Refinitiv data.
The news send shares of National Bank of Oman up 9.5 percent in early trade.
Banks generally try to keep a majority stake in a rival lender because a minority stake is seen as punitive for capital under Basel III, the global framework for capital adequacy.
