Qatar's Commercial Bank to up stake in National Bank of Oman to 50.1%

Qatar's Commercial Bank said on Thursday it has made an offer to buy an additional stake of 15.2% stake in National Bank of Oman for 49.4 million rials ($128 million).

The deal will boost Commercial Bank's stake in the Omani lender to over 50%, keeping it as the biggest shareholder ahead of the government of Oman's 26.18% stake, according to Refinitiv data.

The news send shares of National Bank of Oman up 9.5% in early trade.


Banks generally try to keep a majority stake in a rival lender because a minority stake is seen as punitive for capital under Basel III, the global framework for capital adequacy.