SICO, based in Bahrain, has acquired a majority stake in Muscat Capital, based in Saudi Arabia.
SICO BSC, based in Bahrain, reported on Monday that it had closed a deal to buy 72.7 percent of Muscat Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank Muscat, in Saudi Arabia. The transaction was completed through a share swap, giving Bank Muscat a 9% stake in SICO, a regional asset manager and investment bank with $2.3 billion in assets under management.
According to SICO chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa al-Khalifa, the agreement gives SICO a direct presence in the region’s largest capital market. Regional and Western financial institutions are looking for ways to grow in Saudi Arabia, spurred on by the Arab world’s largest economy’s Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to reduce its reliance on oil.
