Tuesday, February 13, 2007

KFH ups bid for RHB, GFH announces European private equity fund, Islamic banking in Pakistan

Gulf Finance House announces European private equity fund

Gulf Finance House, the Bahrain-based Islamic investment house which opened in 1999, announced the creation of a European private equity fund. The bank, which claims to have raised $1 billion in new private equity in 2006, also has a Middle East and North Africa regional fund.

Kuwait Finance House ups bid for RHB and RHB Capital

Kuwait Finance House one of two bidders for control of Rashid Hussain Bhd and RHB Capital, competing with EON Capital, has set a minimum price it will pay for shares of RHB and RHB Capital. Previously, KFH offered RM2.16 billion ($618 million) for Utama Banking Group's 32 percent stake in RHB, which owns 65% of RHB Capital. The new offer is RM2 ($0.57) per share of Rashid Hussain Bhd, RM1.8 ($0.52) per call warrant of RHB Capital and RM4.8 ($1.37) per share of RHB Capital.

KFH plans to invest $3.4 billion in RHB to turn it into a mega Islamic bank. The current EON Capital bid is $2.86 billion for RHB.

Islamic banking in Pakistan

The monthly magazine Newsline in Pakistan has an interesting article about the development of Islamic banking in Pakistan.

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