Al Baraka starts $38 m IPO of Syrian unit

Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka launched an initial public offering of 35 per cent of its Syrian unit on Sunday.

The 3.5 million shares are offered for 1.75 billion Syrian pounds ($38 million), or 500 pounds per share, to Syrian investors, the bank said in a statement on the bourse website. The offer period for the IPO runs until Nov. 4. The bank plans to start operations in January 2010 with a capital of $100 million. Al Baraka said 50 percent of the value of the rest of the stake, or 1.625 billion Syrian pounds, had been paid up. Al Baraka owns a 24 per cent of the unit, with 10 per cent owned by Emirates Islamic Bank, according to an IPO document published previously.