IslamicFinance.de

Bahrain's Al Salam Bank has sold a portfolio of seven multifamily assets in the United States for $182.5 million. Al Salam acquired the real estate assets in North Carolina and Texas in 2016. The bank said the sale price exceeds the original underwriting for the portfolio. Al Salam Bank’s head of private banking Ali Habib Qassim said the exit comes at an opportune time ahead of the uncertainty of the current COVID-19 crisis.

Bahrain's Salam Bank will launch Islamic insurance products and Visa credit card services in Algeria this year. Salam Bank CEO Hideur Nasser said the lender would open 10 more branches in the country as the market for Islamic products was growing. He added that Islamic banking made up only 15.5% of the private sector in Algeria. The government wants to develop the sector, as the country looks for more ways to offset the sharp fall in oil prices and its energy revenues. For this, technical expertise and new legislation is needed in a country where powerful elites have resisted changes. Nasser said the legal framework had to be amended and sukuk could not be sold under current laws despite great appetite for them.

Kader Merbouh, expert en finance islamique penser que la finance islamique est la solution pour capter l’épargne dormante et en dehors du circuit bancaire en Algérie. L’Algérie a été un point d’encouragement à la finance islamique. Tant par les banques conventionnelles qui proposeront dans les prochaines années des produits de la finance islamique pour capter leur clientèle et tant par les banques islamiques comme Salam ou Baraka. Il y a aussi l’arrivée de nouveaux acteurs qui voudront être présents sur le marché algérien. Cela va créer une triple dynamique. L’Algérie est un marché formidable. La loi de modernisation bancaire en Algérie va introduire quelques règlements pour faciliter la finance islamique.

Al Salam Bank Bahrain has reported total comprehensive income for 2014 down 52 per cent at BHD 16.68 million. The bank showed a 79.6 per cent increase in total assets to BHD 1.96 billion while liabilities rose 95 per cent to BHD 1.6 billion. Income from financing contracts was up from BHD 26.1 million to AED 51.5 million while total operating income was up 76 per cent to BHD 46 million. However, earnings per share slipped from 8.3 to 8 fils. Al Salam Bank Bahrain reported a jump in operating expenses from BHD 11.4 million to BHD 26.4 million.

BMI Bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain's Al Salam Bank (ASBB), has announced that Jamal Al-Hazeem, director and CEO of the bank had stepped down. Al-Hazeem who took on the helm of BMI Bank in 2010 as CEO, cited personal reasons for his resignation and called the decision to step down as CEO of the Bank as "mutual and amicable". He will continue to stay on as a director on the board at BMI Bank which is currently finalising the operational aspects of its merger with Al Salam Bank as it converts its business to a Sharia compliant one.

In a statement to the Bahrain Bourse, Al Salam Bank-Bahrain noted the increase in its authorised share capital to BHD 250 million and in its issued and paid up share capital to BHD 214,093,075. The bank’s share capital has been increased as part of its acquisition of BMI Bank, approved by shareholders at EGM on 8 October 2013 and following the obtaining of the required regulatory approvals.

Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank has launched a listed sharia-compliant real estate investment trust (REIT) that will invest in a portfolio of Asian properties. The REIT will invest in between 15 and 35 properties and be managed by Swiss-based B&I Capital AG, with Al Salam providing seed capital for the fund. The Islamic lender did not reveal the expected size of the fund. Al Salam was an anchor investor in the Sabana Industrial REIT, which was listed on the Singapore exchange in 2010 and was one of the world’s first REITs to adopt Islamic principles. A handful of Islamic REITs have been launched, including Dubai Islamic Bank’s Emirates REIT in 2010. Malaysia now has three listed Islamic REITs.

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain (ASBB) shareholders approved by majority the Board of Directors’ recommendation to merge the bank with BMI Bahrain through exchange of ASBB shares. The Chairperson H.H. Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa pointed out that ASBB’s strategy is to grow organically and through mergers and acquisitions, and consistent with this strategy the Board of Directors had been continuously on the lookout for suitable commercial banking targets to acquire and integrate. H.H Shaikha Hessa mentioned that upon merger the Group will have total assets of circa BHD 1.8 billion, financing facility of circa BHD 1.2 billion, equity of over BHD 285 million and total customer deposits in excess of BHD 1.2 billion.

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain has acquired an equity stake in the Education Experts Company for Education & Training, one of the fastest growing education companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Abdullah bin Mansour Al Qahtani, Chairman of the Education Experts Company expressed pleasure in partnering with the Bank. Meanwhile, the Bahrain All-Share Index declined by 0.11% to 1,183.59 points on Wednesday, and Al Salam Bank-Bahrain lost 2.15% to BD0.091.

Bahrain's Al Salam Bank has agreed to acquire fellow Bahraini lender BMI Bank , an affiliate of Oman's Bank Muscat , through a share-swap deal. Al Salam will exchange 11 of its shares for each BMI Bank share to create the kingdom's fourth-largest commercial bank. The tie-up is still subject to shareholder approval, with meetings to vote on assent due to be held in either September or October. Shares in Al Salam were 5.9 percent higher at 0726 GMT in muted trading. The tie-up will create a bank with assets worth BD1.79bn ($4.75bn), according to second-quarter results from both institutions.

BMI Bank , the Bahrain based associate of Bank Muscat , has announced that they have agreed in principle in favour of a merger with Al Salam Bank, an Islamic Bank incorporated in Bahrain. The completion of the transaction, including final share-swap ratio, is subject to satisfactory due-diligence as well as regulatory and shareholder approvals, Bank Muscat said in posting on the website of the Muscat Securities Market. Bank Muscat has a shareholding of 49 per cent in BMI bank.

Bahrain's Al Salam Bank confirmed media reports related to a potential merger with an unnamed regional bank. One potential merger prospect is Khaleeji Commercial Bank , after Gulf Finance House, which owns 47 percent of the lender, said last week it was studying tie-up options with other Bahraini banks. In February, merger talks between Bahrain Islamic Bank and Al Salam Bank collapsed due to disagreement on valuation.

Al Salam Bank Bahrain acquired an equity stake in two new Boeing planes which are being leased long-term to Emirates Airlines. Thus, investors have the opportunity to benefit from a regular income stream with a yield of 9% p.a. secured by a top tier airline. The Bank retained a sizeable stake of the investment in the proprietary portfolio and sold down the remaining portion to its investors.

The planned merger of two Bahraini banks, besides having the aim to create the largest Islamic lender in the Gulf Arab kingdom, has the possibility to break the ice for more consolidation in a regional industry frozen in its tracks by unrealistic valuations and ownership limits.
The proposed tie-up between Bahrain Islamic Bank and smaller rival Al Salam Bank to develop a $4.5-billion (U.S.) entity is a big test for the region after the last attempted merger, between two Qatari banks, was a failure.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) and Al Salam Bank have appointed KPMG Fakhro for their planned mega merger.
The proposed merger between the two is considered a litmus test for the Gulf region after the last attempted merger, between two Qatari banks, failed.
If this will result in a success, it would be the first for two Gulf-based Islamic banks.

Bahrain Islamic Bank wants to merger with Alsalam Bank. The main reason is to become the largest Shari'ah-compliant bank in the Kingdom.

Bahrain Islamic Bank and Al Salam Bank are thinking about teaming up to create the Gulf Arab state’s largest Islamic lender. The both are known to be in merger talks to create the third largest bank in Bahrain, with assets of BHD 1.7 billion ($4.5 billion).
The statement added that the two boards of directors stated that consolidation is the way forward for local banks in general and Islamic banks in particular in the aftermath of financial crisis and economic downturn and greater competitive banking environment in the region.

Al Salam Bank - Bahrain a leading Islamic financial institution, has recently provided £38 million in a unique Shari'a compliant mezzanine facility to refinance a landmark commercial Property located in the heart of Canary Wharf, the financial district of London. The property is leased in its entirety to a leading, multinational financial institution with A+ long term rating with stable outlook form Standard & Poor's. The successful closing of this transaction demonstrates ASBB's ability to provide its valued clients with differentiated investment opportunities with attractive terms that are structured to take advantage of current market conditions. ASBB was advised by Herbert Smith LLP and Knight Frank on legal and commercial matters relating to the transaction, respectively.

Global Investment House plans to sell a 14.1 % stake in Al-Salam Bank in a June 11 auction to reduce its holdings. The company expects 6.4 million dinar in profit.

Global said in January that it defaulted on most of its loan repayments.rg.net

Bahrain-based lenders Al Salam Bank and Bahrain Saudi Bank said in a joint statement posted on the Bahrain stock exchange that the due diligence and evaluation is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. The planned merger would create a bank with combined market value of USD 400 mn.

The two banks said regulators and shareholders would be approached in April to approve the deal.