Mashreq open to merger - CEO

ECONOMIC RATIONALE: Mashreq is open to a merger, Al-Ghurair said. (ITP Images)

Dubai-based Mashreqbank is open to merging with another institution so long as any such decision is driven by economic rationale and not politics, its chairman said in remarks published on Sunday.

"As far as Mashreqbank is concerned a merger is an option if one plus one equals three. The decision to merge is an economic decision and not a political decision," Abdul Aziz Al-Ghurair told Arabic daily Al-Bayan.

"We are for any merger that is in the interest of the two merging institutions," he said in an interview.

Al-Ghurair said the bank was also looking at acquisition opportunities in the Arab world, particularly in Algeria, but had no intention to buy units outside the region.

"There is no doubt that... there are opportunities and valuations are very tempting and I am sure that every institutions with capability will look into them," he said.

"We are moving according to a preset strategy that targets the Arab world and we are not thinking at all of external markets," he said. "We also have plans to enter the Algerian market, which is an active and very promising market."

Mashreqbank posted a third-quarter profit of 346 million dirhams ($94.20 million), down 12.5 percent from the same period last year, due to a decline in investment income. (Reuters)

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