Oman’s United Finance Company (UFC) has rejected a non-binding takeover offer from the local Al-Omaniya Financial Services.

It did not release the terms of the 100 per cent acquisition bid.

Al-Omaniya had refused to make a binding offer until it was able to complete due diligence.

UFC’s 2015 first-half profits reached RO2.5m ($6.5m), an 8.7 per cent increase on the same period in 2014. It has assets of RO122m.

UFC invited bids from Al-Omaniya and National Bank of Oman (NBO) in June. NBO pulled out of the process on 30 June, leaving Al-Omaniya as the only bidder.

Bank Nizwa, an Islamic bank founded in 2013, originally proposed a strategic merger with UFC in February this year. Al-Omaniya also expressed an interest in a merger or acquisition in March. Bank Nizwa then pulled out of the deal in May, after UFC invited other financial institutions for competitive bidding.

Netherlands-based KPMG advised UFC on the offers.