The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) on Saturday announced that its offer to acquire up to 100% of the paid-up ordinary shares of the Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) resulted in the control of a 78.8% stake in the Islamic bank, according to the Bahrain News Agency.

The offer was initially opened on 18 December 2019 by the NBB as part of its efforts to develop further its Islamic Banking activities and to offer to its client base a full range of banking services both conventional and Islamic.

“Increasing our shareholding in BisB will allow us to become more effective in certain markets, especially where Sharia-compliant businesses play a vital role in,” NBB’s chairman Farouk Al Moayyed commented.

The settlement of the offer is expected to take place on 22 January 2020. All BisB’s shareholders who did not participate in the Offer will remain as shareholders of BisB with their shareholding unchanged as a result of the offer.

“While the two banks will remain independent, I look forward to working with the teams of both banks on the successful implementation of synergies in full respect of the culture of the two institutions,” NBB’s CEO Jean-Christophe Durand said.

Following the acquisition by NBB, BisB will continue to operate under its normal course of business and maintain its operations as a subsidiary of NBB. BisB will continue to be listed on Bahrain Bourse and will recommence trading on 23 January 2020.