Private Placement Completed

27 Nov 2007 07:00

BankMuscat (S.A.O.G)24 November 2007 BankMuscat successfully completes Private Placement with Dubai Financial Group o Paid up share capital of the Bank up from RO 91.5mn to RO 107.7mn Muscat/Dubai. 24 November 2007: BankMuscat SAOG (BankMuscat), Oman's leadingbank, recently announced that it has completed the private placement of 15% ofits stake with Dubai Financial Group ("Dubai Financial"), the financial holdingcompany of Dubai Group, member of Dubai Holding, for a total consideration of RO238.3mn. The Bank issued 161.57mn shares (representing 15% stake) at RO 1.475 per shareto Dubai Financial. With the completion of this transaction, the Bank's sharecapital has increased from RO 91.5mn to RO 107.7mn. Speaking on the occasion. Sheikh AbdulMalik bin Abdullah, Chairman, BankMuscat SAOG said: "We are glad to announce that our transaction with Dubai Financial Group is nowformally complete. We are especially glad that we have been able to complete thesame with our 37th National Day celebrations. This transaction, we believe, isanother significant milestone in the realization of the vision of our belovedleader, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, to build a stronger, more integratedGCC region, as this will lead to stronger economic and business ties between theSultanate and the United Arab Emirates." Thanking the regulatory authorities in Oman, Sheikh AbdulMalik said: "We would like to take this opportunity to also thank the regulatory authoritiesin Oman for providing us with timely support for the successful completion ofthe transaction. We are confident that this move will spur the bank to fargreater heights - not only as a result of the infusion of fresh capital into thesystem, but also as a result of the vision of both partners to build world-classorganizations. We are sure this will deliver far greater value to our family ofshareholders and stakeholders alike." Earlier this year, BankMuscat announced plans for a private placement with DubaiFinancial Group, in an attempt to further enhance its capital adequacy, fuelasset growth and lend further momentum to its domestic and international growthplans, The transaction was approved by the Bank's shareholders and regulatoryauthorities in Oman. In keeping with the agreed terms of the overall transaction, DFGhas also nominated two directors into the Board of BankMuscat. - ends - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange