Ahli Bank in Oman (ABO) said Wednesday that its board rejected a merger offer from the Sultanate’s second-biggest lender Bank Dhofar.
The bank’s board of directors studied the non-binding proposal from Bank Dhofar and decided not to accept it. “We would like to inform you that the board of directors has studied the proposal and decided not to accept it,” Ahli Bank said in a bourse filing without providing a reason for the board’s decision.
The proposed merger was expected to create a bank with $19 billion in assets. Bank Dhofar has $11.2 billion in assets while its smaller rival ABO has around $7.9 billion in assets, according to the lender’s financial statements.
The bank has attempted to merge with other local lenders in the past with no success. It was previously in talks to merge with the National Bank of Oman, but the negotiations were called off in 2019.
Meanwhile, Sohar International Bank received the central bank’s approval to merge with HSBC Bank Oman in February 2023, a deal that is expected to close in the second half of this year. Sohar International is also linked with a potential merger with Omani Islamic lender Bank Nizwa. Both proposed mergers are subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.
