MANAMA: GFH Financial Group has acquired 13.64 per cent additional stake in Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) increasing its ownership in the Sharia-compliant commercial bank from 55.41pc to 69.05pc.
The investment firm said in a bourse filing yesterday that this comes as part of the group’s strategy.
Meanwhile, Dubai-based asset management and investment banking platform Shuaa Capital announced that it has sold its 3.8pc stake in KHCB, totaling 34.6 million shares, to GFH.
The sale is expected to contribute positively to its Q2 financials, said Shuaa, adding that the transaction represented continued progress in its stated intention to exit non-core assets.
Also yesterday, KHCB made a disclosure to BHB saying Goldilocks Fund has divested its 9.76pc stake in the bank, totalling 87m shares, to GFH.
Goldilocks is managed by Shuaa GMC, a subsidiary of Shuaa Capital.
Following these disposals, Shuaa and Goldilocks no longer have any holding in KHCB.
Ajit Joshi, managing director and head of public and private markets at Shuaa, said, “We have been very clear on our goal of exiting non-core assets as part of our overall strategy to optimise growth. This sale is in line with that strategy and demonstrates a further milestone in the wind-down process of our non-core assets unit, allowing Shuaa to focus on driving growth and creating further value for our investors.” KHCB has reported a net profit of BD2.106m in Q1 of 2021, compared to BD1.437 million for the same period of the previous year, with an increase of 46.56 per cent.
Citing improved contributions from the group’s commercial banking and treasury activities, GFH posted net profit of $16.12m for Q1-2021 compared with $5.08m in Q1-2020, a jump of 217.2pc.
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