Bahrain’s SICO buys majority stake in Saudi-based Muscat Capital

Bahrain-based SICO BSC said on Monday it has completed a deal to acquire 72.7 percent in the Saudi-based Muscat Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank Muscat.

The acquisition took place by way of a share swap, which will also give Bank Muscat a 9 percent stake in SICO, a regional asset manager and investment bank that manages $2.3 billion in assets.

The deal also provides SICO with a direct presence in the region’s largest capital market, said SICO’s chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa al-Khalifa.

Regional and Western financial institutions are seeking opportunities to expand in Saudi Arabia, encouraged by reforms in the Arab world’s biggest economy under its Vision 2030 program to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil.