Banking & Finance Sohar International Bank and HSBC Oman to merge By Pramod Kumar May 31, 2023 Reuters/Brendan McDermid All assets and liabilities of HSBC Bank Oman will be transferred to Sohar International upon the conclusion of the merger Sohar International Bank and HSBC Bank Oman have signed a binding merger agreement following talks that started in June 2022. All assets and liabilities of HSBC Bank Oman will be transferred to Sohar International upon the conclusion of the deal. The banks, which did not disclose the deal value, said that upon completion HSBC Oman will be dissolved and no longer be a legal entity. In February, the two banks received the Central Bank of Oman’s approval for their merger proposal. Last November, HSBC Oman said that shareholders would be offered consideration valuing the bank at one times the book value. Shareholders will be given the option to receive cash, provided it does not exceed 70 percent of the total consideration payable by Sohar International. The GCC banking sector has witnessed a consolidation trend since lower government spending squeezed profit margins and banks are trying to become competitive globally. In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s biggest lender National Commercial Bank (NCB), merged with Samba Financial Group to create Saudi National Bank with over $240 billion in assets.
