State-run Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and the Tunisian government plan to sell 30 percent each of their equal stakes in Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne de Development (BTKD), a Kuwaiti newspaper said on Saturday.
The Kuwaiti and Tunisian governments will ask a specialised investment bank to assess the share price of BTKD - an investment bank owned 50-50 by the two sides - for the stakes to be sold simultaneously, al-Qabas daily said.
Officials at KIA, Kuwait's investment arm, could not be reached immediately to confirm the report. The newspaper quoted an official source as saying also that the specialised bank will choose whether the sale will be in a public subscription or a private placement.
Established in 1981, Tunis-based BTKD has a capital of 100 million Tunisian dinars ($74.74 million), the paper said. KIA runs a multi-billion-dollar local, regional and international investment portfolio for the Gulf Arab state. Al-Qabas quoted the source as saying that the planned sale by KIA comes "within the context of managing assets it owns in some Arab states ... to achieve lucrative returns".
According to a Fitch Ratings report in July, the Tunisian government plans to privatise the bank. BTKD's asset quality is poor and its performance ratios deteriorated last year, partly reflecting declining lending activity, Fitch said then.