Yorkshire advisers on bank deal
YORKSHIRE lawyers have advised on the acquisition of the Islamic Bank of Britain by its major shareholder.
Qatar International Islamic Bank will take over IBB through a court-sanctioned scheme and under the terms of arrangement scheme shareholders will be entitled to receive 1p in cash for each IBB share.
The acquisition values IBB’s issued share capital at approximately £35.5m and the scheme shares at approximately £4.1m.
A team from the Leeds office of Eversheds, led by Hannah Kendrick, advised IBB alongside Birmingham-based Cattaneo on the deal which now requires the approval of IBB shareholders and will be subject to court clearance.
Should full clearance be granted then it is expected the deal will be completed on November 8.
For the year ended December 31, 2011, IBB made a loss of £9m (2010: -£8.1m. The net asset value of IBB as of December 31, 2011 was £17.1m (2010: £26.2m) which equates to 0.67p per IBB share. The acquisition price of 1p per IBB share is equal to the price at which QIIB made a cash offer for IBB in March 2011.
IBB’s admission to trading on the Alternative Investment Market was cancelled in April last year after it bailed out by QIIB. QIIB invested a further £10m in IBB shares in April this year, at a price of 1p per IBB s. This increased its stake in IBB to 88.41%.
QIIB and the QIIB concert parties now hold 93.61% of the IBB shares, leaving just 6.39% in the hands of minority shareholders.
In a statement, QIIB indicated it was considering the strategic future of IBB, which may include the sale of the bank to a third party. It confirmed it was in initial, non-binding discussions with potential purchasers, including Masraf Al-Rayan.
The independent IBB directors, who have been advised by Cattaneo, said they considered the terms of the acquisition to be “fair and reasonable” and would be recommending to IBB shareholders they support the offer.
The offer will be funded from QIIB’s existing cash resources.
Commenting on the acquisition, HE Sheikh Dr Khalid Bin Thani Bin Abdullah Al Thani, of QIIB, said: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with the board of IBB, and we look forward to building on what they have achieved with the business to date.”
Sultan Choudhury, managing director of IBB, said: “IBB is a subsidiary of QIIB and as a consequence QIIB has for some time had significant influence over the company. QIIB has been very supportive and has injected significant amounts of capital to fund IBB’s losses and to provide a base from which to grow the company.
“The acquisition price of 1p per share is above IBB’s net asset value per share and it gives shareholders the opportunity to realise value for their shares.”
