UK’s BLME agrees to all-cash offer from Boubyan Bank

Acquisition to be conducted via a contractual takeover offer of $1.05 per share

12/07/09 - Kuwait City, Kuwait - Boubyan Bank was established in 2004 by Amiri Decree No. 88 with a paid-up capital of 100 million Kuwaiti Dinars (Andrew Henderson/The National) *** Local Caption ***  ah_090712_Kuwait_Stock_0136.jpg
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Bank of London and the Middle East agreed to an all-cash takeover from Kuwait-based Boubyan Bank, which already holds a 27.01 per cent share in the Islamic lender.

In a statement issued on Nasdaq Dubai after Thursday’s market close, the Boubyan Bank said the independent directors of BLME Holdings had agreed to its $1.05  per share offer for bank, which values it at $212.1 million. The offer represents a 75 per cent premium to the $0.60 that BLME shares were trading at on December 4, before the announcement was made. The share price did not change from November 28, when the offer was first tabled to BLME.

“We believe that by consolidating our long-standing shareholding position in BLME we can further develop its business and drive the growth of both businesses,” Abdul-Salem Al-Saleh, deputy chief executive of Boubyan Bank, said in the statement.

BLME has an increasing number of GCC clients looking for access to Sharia compliant UK wealth management opportunities. In the six months to June 30, the bank made a profit attributable to shareholders of £6.8m (Dh32.3m), down 1 per cent year-on-year as revenue grew 17 per cent to £27.8m.

Michael Williams, senior independent director of BLME, said that the offer was in the best interest of all shareholders. “Boubyan Bank will open up new geographic markets for BLME and access to its client base and products. Its strength and external credit rating will enable BLME to strengthen liquidity to support growth. It also provides shareholders with the opportunity to realise value at a 75 per cent premium to the undisturbed share price.”

Boubyan Bank has seen its net profit increase by 12 per cent in the first nine months of 2019 to 45.3 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh547.9m) as operating income grew 4 per cent to 109.4m dinars. As at September 30, the bank had total assets of 5.03 billion dinars.