DOHA: Banif Bank Portugal is to sell its 78.5 per cent stake in Banif Bank Malta to a private Qatari investment group in a deal welcomed by the prime minister.
The bank has been acquired by the investment arm of Al Faisal Holding for an undisclosed sum. The Portuguese bank was forced to put all its foreign investments up for sale after it benefited from an EU bailout in 2013, and had set a 2017 deadline for selling its majority stake in its Maltese bank.
Banif Bank Malta made a profit of €1.5 million before tax in 2015, and has around 150 employees. Maltese minority shareholders will be retaining their shares. Al Faisal Holding is a multi-million international firm with an array of over 20 companies operating under its umbrella, including hotels, financial service firms, a private university and a transportation and logistics firm. It was started by Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, one of Qatar’s richest men.
Sheikh Faisal this morning had talks with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on the investment and other possible investments in Malta. Dr Muscat said this was just the first investment by the Al Faisal Group in Malta.
The deal was of strategic importance as it involved the acquisition of the third-biggest player in the retail banking sector, he said.
The Prime Minister expressed his comfort that the new owner of Banif had a business outlook that was in synch with the government’s.He said this first deal would open up further avenues for investment from the Gulf region.
