Kuwait''s Noor Financial Investment Co said the proposed sale of its stake in Karachi-based Meezan Bank had been blocked by State Bank, which felt the prospective buyer had not met its standards for suitability. Ownership of Meezan Bank, Pakistan''s first and largest full-fledged Islamic lender, may be a sensitive issue for regulators as they seek to develop Islamic banking in the country.
In a bourse filing on Sunday, Noor Financial said the prospective buyer would continue to seek approval from the regulator, with the offer set to expire on April 15. Little is known about the prospective buyer, identified only as Vision Financial Holdings Ltd in a separate filing by Meezan Bank.
Last December, Noor Financial said it planned to sell its 49.1 percent stake in Meezan for $190 million and expected to book a $24 million profit. As of December, Meezan Bank had a network of 351 branches and held assets worth 329 billion rupees ($3.3 billion), a 20 percent increase from a year earlier. Last month, Meezan Bank said it was in talks to buy the Pakistan operations of HSBC Bank Middle East, a 10-branch business which the British lender has been trying to sell for the past two years.