Qatar’s Ahli Bank Says Top Shareholder To Sell Most Of Stake

Ahli Bank, Qatar’s seventh-largest listed bank, said on Wednesday that its strategic partner, Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank, would sell nearly all its stake in the lender.

Ahli United Bank, Bahrain’s largest lender, will sell all but 1,000 of its 37.4 million shares in the Qatari firm, Ahli Bank said in a bourse filing.

The proposed sale is currently being reviewed by the Qatar central bank, the statement added. It did not say whether the sale of the stake had been agreed between all parties, or at what price it would be conducted.

Ahli United Bank is the largest shareholder with a 33 percent stake, with Qatar Investment Authority, the gas exporter’s sovereign wealth fund, the second-largest at 16.7 percent, according to Ahli Bank’s third-quarter financial statement.

Reuters