Abu Dhabi firm buys stake in Bahrain bank

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Abu Dhabi firm buys stake in Bahrain bank

MANAMA: The newly formed Abu Dhabi-based financial institution, Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH), has acquired a stake in Bahrain's First Leasing Bank (FLB), contributing to its capital.

FLB, incorporated last year, is the first bank in Bahrain dedicated exclusively to the introduction and expansion of equipment leasing throughout the GCC.

The company's primary leasing products are finance leases and operating leases, to the commercial and government sectors in the region.

With this development ADIH, incorporated in September, joins Bahrain- based institutions, Gulf Finance House and Ithmaar Bank, US-based Overland Capital Group and the Kuwait-based Gulf Investment House, as the principal institutional shareholders of FLB.

ADIH chief executive officer and founders committee member Rashad Yusuf Janahi said economic liberalisation in the region was reflected in an increased focus on privatisation initiatives, enhanced government spending on infrastructure and employment programmes and the growth of sophisticated financial investments.

These are all sure signs of economies ready to move beyond cash and term loans in order to build capital infrastructure, he said.

'ADIH has been set up with the aim of providing diligent investors a variety of high-yielding investment opportunities in the region,' he said.

'We have identified equipment leasing as one such business sector that has potential for tremendous growth.'

Mr Janahi said that FLB, as one of the pioneers in the area of equipment leasing in the region, had succeeded in making leasing an integral and sophisticated force in the capital formation structure of GCC companies and institutions.

'Our decision to partner with FLB was made after a thorough due diligence exercise, which included a careful study of both the market and the existing players within the equipment leasing sector,' he said.

'We firmly believe that as a provider of high-quality asset based financing, FLB effectively combines sound local knowledge, with a strong management team that has substantial international experience in lease-financing.'

FLB chief executive officer James Cracco said the bank's partnership with ADIH would provide it with added bandwidth, resources and reach to aggressively pursue core objectives of serving the business community in the region through leasing and other investment tools and thus enhance both productivity and profitability. 'We are especially looking forward to working closely with ADIH and their contacts to increase our economic presence in the UAE and the GCC,' he added."