Banque de la Beqaa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank of Sharjah, will soon begin due diligence on the deal, with the help of auditing firm Deloitte and Touche.

The proposed deal was revealed in a statement by Bank of Sharjah to the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.

Banque de la Bekaa focuses on providing services to the agricultural sector. Bank of Sharjah bought it in June 2007 for $25m, in its first major international acquisition.