DOHA/DUBAI: Commercial Bank of Qatar is open to tie-ups with local financial institutions and could sell bonds next year to fund infrastructure lending in Qatar, its recently appointed chief executive was quoted as saying.
The lender, which earlier this year completed the purchase of a 74.2 percent stake in Turkey’s Alternatifbank, is also open to further foreign acquisitions but will wait to see the performance of the Turkish business before deciding on new deals, Abdulla Saleh Al Raisi has said.
He did not specify what kind of tie-up with local institutions the bank would seek. Mergers between banks in Qatar, like much of the region, are extremely rare as majority shareholders — often powerful local families — are reluctant to cede control except for extremely high valuations.
The last merger attempt in Qatar, between Al Khaliji Commercial Bank and International Bank of Qatar, collapsed in June 2011 after more than a year of negotiations as the two parties couldn’t agree terms.
Qatari banks have recorded strong lending and profit growth in recent years, thanks to huge government spending on improving infrastructure, and such spending is set to continue as the country prepares to host the 2022 soccer World Cup.
The country plans to spend about $140bn in the coming years to build stadiums, roads, railways, a new airport, a seaport and other infrastructure. Reuters
