Undoubtedly, the news of the week came from the banking sector. Emirates Bank and National Bank of Dubai agreed on a surprise merger to create the largest United Arab Emirates lender. The merger is expected to take two years to complete and is to be based purely on market capitalization, with assets, shareholder equity and profitability being important elements. And, both the banks have agreed to undertake both financial and legal due diligence in the transaction and capital structuring.
 
Elsewhere, the financial services industry performed well as usual. But, bids, stakes and acquisition were the order of the day in all the industries; UAE-based Emaar Properties plans to make a USD370m bid with its Indian partner MGF Group to acquire a majority stake in Singapore-based RSH Limited; United Gulf Bank of Bahrain will sell its stake in the Kuwait-based National Mobile Telecommunication Company (NMTC) for USD157m and Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) and Qatar Telecom signed an agreement in which the former will acquire 233.69m controlling shareholding in NMTC; Oman Oil Company is planning to sell its 23% stake in Oman Oil Marketing Company; Orascom Telecom of Egypt has launched a bid for a stake in Brazilian telco outfit Brasil Telecom Participacoes; Kuwait Finance House plans to make offer for all shares in the Malaysian  RHB and Malaysia’s state pension fund by launching a USD3.6b bid; India’s Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and US Verizon are among 10 bidding for Saudi Arabia's second fixed line licence; Landmark Properties of UAE is one of the main contenders in the USD2b battle for ownership of UK-based fashion chain New Look.
 
The past week bore witness to notable ventures; Al Rayan Bank of Qatar and Qatari Diar Real Estate and Investment Company signed a strategic partnership worth USD2.25b cooperate on the development of the Lusail Corniche Project; Dubai Aluminum Company Limited has signed an agreement with Mubadala Development Company to develop the country's first aluminum smelter with a cost of USD5b in Algeria; Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has plans to start a USD1bn infrastructure fund with Australia's Macquarie Bank in Q2 2007; Qatar Steel Company along with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and other partners, has established Newco, a joint venture in Mauritania to develop an iron ore project that aims to produce annually 7mn tonnes of direct reduction (DR) pellets.
 
In a widely welcomed move, the Oman Telecommunications Company plans to sell a fixed-line telephone license this year, ending the monopoly and for this the company participated in a consultation process with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
 
The corporate management world experienced some changes in the past week; Gulf Finance House of Bahrain announced a major restructuring of its operations into five distinct divisions and has recruited five new senior executives to head these divisions. In another development Global Investment House of Kuwait announced the resignation of the company's chairman, Mr. Anwar Abdullah Al- Nouri.
 
Al Hilal Bank, a bank is being set up by Abu Dhabi government with authorized capital of DH4b while Bahrain National Holding announced significant progress in establishing the Arabian Shield Co-operative Insurance Company.
 
The financial statements were a bag of mixed affairs with some good progress and some disappointments. Oman’s Gulf Investment Service net profits were RO2.1m, up 44% for the year 2006; Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Co. announced net profit of BD3.4m for last year, an increase of 39% compared to BD2.5m for 2005; Dubai Financial Market Company reported 36% decrease in net profit to AED797.6m for the year 2006; Al Sharqiya Investment Holdings Company of Oman’s net profits for 2006 is RO 780K down by 53%; Maroc Telecom reported 16% increase in net profit to MAD6.74b; Qatar Electricity and Water Company approved 35% cash dividend to shareholders for the year ended 2006; Sidi Krier Petrochemicals Company of Egypt reported 26% increase in net profit to EGP1b for the year 2006; The Jordanian Duty Free Shops Company will be distributing cash dividends to shareholders at a rate of 60% and announced 25% increase in net profit to JD5.24m and 28.7% increase in sales for the year 2006; Oman Aviation Services Co. posted a net profit of 2.89m rials (USD7.51m) for 2006, up 187% from the previous year.

 Summarily, the corporate world of Arabia is gradually displaying interests in stakes and also actively bidding for non-Arabian projects, which can be seen as a move towards increased participation in worldwide company affairs. The real estate industry contrary to its image kept a low profile with fewer activities this week, but, the financial and banking industries’ ventures continued at the usual pace.

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