Published: August 1, 2013
Dubai Group exits country’s largest Islamic bank
Dubai Group, the state-backed investment company, has offloaded a 30.47% stake in Malaysia’s Bank Islam.
The US$550mn share has been picked up by BIMB Holdings, which currently owns 49% of the bank and is looking to gain full control. BIMB is also picking up an 18.53% stake held by Lembaga Tabung Haji, the Malaysian fund for Hajj pilgrims, pushing its stake up to 98%.
This is the second divestment by Dubai Group as it looks to reduce its debt pile. In June the company sold its credit card business, Dubai First, to Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank for US$164mn as it looks to restructure US$10bn worth of debt.