KFIC Invest shareholders give go-ahead to Rasameel deal

Shareholders in KFIC Invest have approved its plan to acquire Rasameel, a Kuwaiti company that specialises in shariah-compliant investments.

The deal was given the green light at an extraordinary general assembly meeting in Kuwait City on Sunday.

KFIC Invest – formerly known as Kuwait Finance & Investment Company – said Rasameel would be dissolved and its financial assets transferred. The share swap deal was valued at KD8.1 million ($26.4 million) when it was announced last year.

The two companies had been negotiating for several months and KFIC Invest, which is listed on the Kuwait bourse, obtained approval from the country’s Capital Markets Authority in November.

KFIC Invest was set up in 2000 and listed in 2003. It has capital of about KD30 million. Rasameel, which is not listed on the bourse, was launched in 2006 with capital of KD18 million.

The move is the second financial sector merger announced in Kuwait in recent months. Last summer two Kuwait-listed banks, Gulf Bank and Warba, said they had named advisers for a potential deal.

KFIC Invest’s shares stood at KD0.14 on Monday. The price has declined by about 16 percent in the past year.

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