Wave of Gulf bank mergers almost over: S&P Global Ratings

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Tue, 2019-05-28 11:09

DUBAI: The Gulf banking sector may experience fewer mergers and acquisitions, with the remaining pool of lenders seeing limited bases – except for economic reasons – for them to consider consolidation deals.

“Most mergers to date have involved banks with common major shareholders,” S&P Global Ratings said in a report. “As such, the pool of banks with similar ownership is smaller, which will mean fewer M&A from now on unless economic reasons force the issue.”