Kuwait Finance House issued two documents to Ahli United Bank (AUB) on Monday relating to its acquisition of the Bahrain-based lender, moving a step closer to closing what would be one of the biggest bank deals in the region.

AUB said in a statement on the Bahrain Stock Exchange that it received a notice of KFH's firm intention to make an offer and an offer document to acquire up to 100% of the issued shares of AUB by way of share swap.

Earlier this month, AUB said it would accept KFH's revised offer of one share for every 2.695 shares of Ahli United. The banks did not give a value for the potential transaction but according to a Bloomberg report the deal is valued at about $11.6 billion.

AUB also said it has appointed Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. as advisor on the deal.

zawya