April 11, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1428

KUWAIT, April 10: Commercial Bank of Kuwait, the country's fourth largest lender by market value, said on Tuesday it was considering merger, takeover and other approaches from foreign and local investors.

The main shareholders were not looking to exit the bank, which reported a 20 per cent jump in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, chairman Abdul-Majeed al-Shatti told Reuters.

Shatti declined to identify the suitors, saying all options were on the table, including a merger, an alliance, or selling a minority or majority stake.

Banks in the world's biggest oil exporting region are looking at merger and acquisitions to gain the scale they need to cope with the demands of rapidly growing economies and fend off competition from foreign players.

“We thought it's a good idea now for the benefit of the bank and shareholders to look at these offers,” Shatti said in an interview, adding a bank committee was studying the offers.

Commercial Bank said last week the government had encouraged it to consider the approaches, much as Dubai's ruler urged two banks in the emirate -- National Bank of Dubai and -- to merge last month.

“This is not an exit strategy,” Shatti said.

“The objective of the whole exercise is what increases the value of the shareholders,” he said, when asked whether some shareholders were pressing him to clinch a deal.

Commercial Bank, which offers consumer and corporate banking services, said rising revenue from currency dealing and stronger fee income had helped it make a profit of 28 million dinars ($96.85 million) in the first quarter.

The bank's main local competitors are National Bank of Kuwait and Gulf Bank.

Shatti said several institutional investors had raised their stakes in Commercial Bank last year when the lender grew net profit by 23 per cent to 100 million dinars, riding economic growth driven by a tripling of oil prices in the five years to July.Commercial Bank's biggest shareholder is Sharq Holding, which owns around 23 per cent.

“We always had inquiries about whether we are interested in selling or whether people can get a large stake in the bank.

This year there is even more interest in the bank,” he said.

Kuwaiti newspaper al-Qabas said on March 20 an unidentified Swiss bank was considering buying a stake in Commercial Bank.

Gulf Arab banks are leading a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the Middle East and North Africa. On Monday Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank said it was racing Saudi banks to buy an Egyptian lender. National Bank of Kuwait is considering acquisitions in Egypt and Turkey.—Reuters