Bank Muscat will agree Pakistan deal before 2008

Bank Muscat expects to agree a deal to buy 35 per cent of Pakistan's Saudi Pak Bank before the end of the year, AbdulRazak Ali Issa the chief executive of the bank said on 15 November.

The deal is expected to involve the bank, along with partners including Nomura Holdings, the investment bank, paying 27-28 rupees ($0.44-0.46) per share for stake, or $79m in total. The deal would value the Pakistani lender at $225m.

Bank Muscat, Oman's largest bank, is embarking on a strategy to expand throughout the Gulf and South Asia because of increasing competition in its domestic market.

Saudi Pak Bank is the 18th biggest bank in Pakistan by market value, out of 25 banks in the world's 6th most populous country.

Issa said the political situation in Pakistan had no effect on the bank's appetite to enter the country's banking market.