QNB said to bid for Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysia business

Qatar National Bank is among suitors that submitted final bids for Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian operations. KFH is evaluating offers from Qatar National Bank and at least one other party. It may not proceed with the sale unless it can agree on a high enough price. State-controlled Qatar National Bank has been expanding overseas to reduce its reliance on its home market. It has spent US$3 billion on acquisitions since 2012. Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian unit had a book value of 1.7 billion ringgit (US$395 million) and total assets of 10.5 billion ringgit at the end of December. Offers for the business were affected by the difficult economic environment in the country.