Oman’s Ahli Bank board rejects Bank Dhofar merger offer

Ahli Bank's board decided not to accept a non-binding merger proposal from Oman's second-biggest lender

Bank Dhofar had assets worth 4.3 billion Omani rials at the end of 2022. Bloomberg

Oman's Ahli Bank has rejected a non-binding offer from the sultanate's second-biggest lender Bank Dhofar for a potential merger.

Ahli Bank's board of directors decided not to accept the merger offer from Bank Dhofar, it said in a bourse filing to the Muscat Securities Exchange on Thursday. The bank did not provide additional details for the decision.

“The board of directors has studied the proposal and decided not to accept it,” Ahli Bank said.

The decision comes after Ahli Bank said on April 11 it had received a merger offer from Bank Dhofar. A merger of the two banks would have created a lender with about $19 billion in assets.

Set up in 2007, Ahli Bank, is partly owned by Bahrain's Ahli Bank and operates 23 branches in Oman. It offers retail, commercial and investment banking solutions to customers.

The bank's 2022 net profit jumped nearly 20 per cent to 33 million Omani rials ($86 million) on the back of lower impairment losses and higher net interest income.

It had total assets worth 3 billion rials at the end of last year.

Bank Dhofar also reported strong results last year with its net profit climbing 36 per cent to 34.1 million rials on the back of higher income from net interest and Islamic financing. The bank had 4.3 billion rials of assets at the end of 2022.

This year, HSBC Bank Oman received approval from the Central Bank of Oman for its proposed merger with Sohar International Bank, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023.

As part of the deal, first announced in November last year, all the assets and liabilities of HSBC Oman will be transferred to Sohar International.