Ahli United shareholder interested in stock sale

London-based Blakeney Management said it may be interested in selling its stock in Ahli United Bank, the target of a $6.1 billion takeover bid, because the price being offered is "very, very rich".

International Bank of Qatar, an affiliate of National Bank of Kuwait, is offering $2.25 per share for 55% of the Bahraini lender in what would be the biggest cross-border takeover of a Gulf company.

Blakeney, which manages assets worth about $1.5 billion, including $500 million in Gulf Arab companies, owns almost $20 million of stock in Ahli, Bahrain's biggest bank.

"We've had no formal or informal approach," Matthew Eyre, a manager at Blakeney told Reuters from London on Thursday. "At $2.25, it's a very, very rich multiple; we'd be foolish not to consider it."

Kuwait's Public Institution for Social Security is Ahli's biggest shareholder, followed by Kuwait-based Tamdeen Investment Company, which is leading the sale for other shareholders.

Tamdeen, which owns 13% of Ahli, has not identified the shareholders it represents.

Tamdeen has asked Ahli to open its books to International Bank of Qatar, for which it needs central bank approval. International Bank has not yet made the request to the Bahraini central bank, according to Khalid Hamad, executive director for banking supervision.

"No one has asked us," Hamad told Reuters on Thursday.

Blakeney started buying shares in Ahli United in 2003 at 36 cents per share, Eyre said. The shares last traded at $1.68 and are up more than 57% this year.

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