The Bahrain-based investment bank will hold a minority stake in the Islamic investment company that will focus on housing and consumer finance.

Addax will also hold a 40 per cent stake in the wealth management company, which is due to launch in the first quarter of 2008. 'This is an untapped market and hard to access,' says Yousef al-Essa, chief executive officer of Addax. 'If it works, we will replicate the model in Riyadh and Jeddah.' Separately, Abu Dhabi-based Oasis International Leasing is acquiring a 42.5 per cent stake in Addax through the purchase of 20 million new shares.