The shareholders of Kuwait Finance House KSCP approved the acquisition of Bahrain-based Ahli United Bank BSC via a share swap.

The shareholders also approved the increase of authorized capital by issuing 4.2 billion shares at nominal value to be allocated to Ahli United Bank shareholders.

Kuwait Finance House first proposed the takeover in July 2018 and both the boards agreed in January 2019 to a share swap deal, under which the Kuwait-based bank will offer 1 share for every 2.325581 shares of Ahli United Bank.

The merger has already received approval from Bahrain and Kuwait's central banks.