Consortium looks to acquire Delta International Bank Reuters CAIRO: Bahrain s Ahli United Bank and four other Gulf companies have offered to buy Delta International Bank for LE 1.85 billion ($322 million). The offer, at LE 37 a share, is at a premium over the last traded price of LE 35.45 on July 27. Ahli United Bank has already signed an agreement to buy the shares held by shareholders with a cumulative stake of 80.85 percent of Delta International Bank, the consortium said in a statement published on Thursday. Brokers will accept offers for the rest of the shares for one week, and the transaction is expected to go through the stock exchange within three weeks, it said. The members of the consortium are: Ahli United Bank, with a 31.5 percent stake; Kuwait s Wafra International Investment Company, with 24 percent; Kuwait s Strategia Investments Company, 22 percent; Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East, 17.5 percent; and Al-Ahli Bank of Qatar, 5 percent. The government has been encouraging bank takeovers as part of a plan to reduce the number of banks, sell off the state s stake in mixed private-public banks and help with the problem of non-performing loans. According to the Kompass directory, the government owned 18.6 percent of Delta International Bank through Bank of Alexandria and Al-Chark Insurance.
