Mubasher: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) announced an agreement in principle to the share pricing of its merger with Ahli United Bank – Bahrain (AUB – Bahrain).
As agreed, the average share pricing for AUB Bahrain will be 2.33 shares for each share owned in KFH, the two banks stated in separate disclosures to Boursa Kuwait on Thursday.
The assessment reports prepared by HSBC and Credit Suisse investment banks were submitted to AUB’s board.
The final share pricing rate will be decided according to the due diligence studies carried out by each bank once the required approvals from the regulatory authorities are obtained.
In mid-December, a local newspaper reported that KFH’s board had agreed in principle to a share pricing of 2.4 shares of AUB for each share in KFH. However, the two lenders denied these reports in separate disclosures to Boursa Kuwait at the time.
AUB’s stock grew 2.2% and closed at 232 fils, topped Boursa Kuwait in terms of volume and value on Thursday after 41.11 million shares were exchanged at a turnover of KWD 9.44 million.
On the other hand, KFH’s stock fell 0.8% to close at 623 fils after 6.67 million shares were traded at a turnover of KWD 4.15 million.
KFH’s stock closed 2.7 times higher than AUB’s stock.
