Kuwait's Burgan ups stake in Baghdad bank to 50.6 pct

Kuwait's Burgan Bank said on Sunday it became a majority shareholder in an Iraqi lender after it raised its stake to 50.6 per cent.

Burgan, the commercial banking arm of investment firm Kuwait Project Co (KIPCO), bought an additional 5.3 percent stake in the Bank of Baghdad for $10.7 million, it said in a statement on the Kuwaiti bourse website. In 2008, Burgan agreed to purchase the foreign assets of Bahrain's United Gulf Bank, another unit of KIPCO, for 194 million dinars ($675.5 million). This gave Burgan stakes in the Bank of Baghdad, Algeria Gulf Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank and Tunis International Bank. The acquisition was part of a push by Burgan to move outside of its home market for the first time.