REUTERS - DUBAI: Bahrain's Islamic lender Al-Baraka said on Tuesday it planned to enter the Saudi Arabian market through an acquisition of an Islamic investment company, valued at around SR300 million ($80 million). "The group is in the process of obtaining approval from Saudi authorities to enter the Kingdom this year through acquiring one of the companies operating in the Saudi market," the lender said in a statement on the bourse website.
Al-Baraka did not disclose the name of the Saudi firm it planned to buy, adding it would reveal further details after gaining official approval.
"It will be an Islamic investment firm," Chief Executive Adnan Yousif told Al-Arabiya TV, adding it was a medium-sized company. "(The company is) worth around SR300 million."
Adnan said the acquisition will be funded internally.
"We expect a return of between 11 and 15 percent on the existing capital of the company annually," he added.
The lender said in June it was also keen to expand in the French market, but plans remained on hold awaiting French Islamic banking regulations. It is also eyeing a stake in Malaysian Bank Muamalat and expects the deal to be concluded before 2011.
The Al-Baraka Banking Group has a wide presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in 12 countries, which in turn provide their services through more than 300 branches.
Al-Baraka had signed a share swap deal with Saudi Investment in 2007 but scrapped the deal in 2009 blaming the global financial crisis.
