Jordan Kuwait Bank (JKB) signed the agreement to acquire 51.75% of Bank of Baghdad’s Capital effective 1/1/2023, after obtaining the necessary approvals from the Central Bank of Jordan, the Central Bank of Iraq and regulatory authorities in both countries.

JKB intends – upon obtaining regulatory approvals – to issue Tier 1 capital bonds (additional capital)  with a maximum amount of JD 85 million (or its equivalent in US Dollars).

On this occasion, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jordan Kuwait Bank Mr. Nasser Lozi stated: “ This transaction comes in line with the Bank’s strategy to enhance its performance and financial position, in addition to expand its presence in the region which in return will diversify the Bank’s revenue streams.”  Lozi expressed his appreciation to the Central Bank of Jordan for their professionalism and efforts towards strengthening the performance of the financial sector in the Kingdom, he also thanked Jordan Securities Commission and Amman Stock Exchange for their role in safeguarding investors’ interests and enhancing confidence to invest in Jordan. He also commended the Central Bank of Iraq, JKB’s executive management and the legal and financial advisors for their efforts towards completing this deal.

On his part, Mr. Haethum Buttikhi, Chief Executive Officer at Jordan Kuwait Bank added: “ I take this opportunity to extend  my sincere appreciation to the Bank’s shareholders for their confidence in us, especially our strategic partners: Kuwait Projects Company Holding - KIPCO (Kuwait); Social Security Investment Fund (Jordan); and Odyssey Reinsurance Company (USA) -  a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings, who own 50.9%, 21.04%, and 5.85% of the bank's capital respectively, for their ongoing support, stressing our keenness to invest in strategic and business partnerships that allow for business expertise and opportunities exchange and among the group members. And based on the commercial ties and the historically close bi-lateral relations between Jordan and Iraq , Jordan Kuwait Bank looks forward, through this deal, to serving both the Jordanian and Iraqi markets.”

Bank of Baghdad – Iraq is a public shareholding company listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange with a paid-up capital of 250 billion Iraqi dinars (US$170 million) and is a member of the Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) group (KIPCO), which includes nine partner banks: Jordan Kuwait Bank in Jordan, Bank of Baghdad in Iraq, Syria and Gulf Bank in Syria, Gulf Bank in Algeria in Algeria, Tunis International Bank in Tunisia, Burgan Bank in Kuwait, Burgan Bank in Turkey, FIMBank in Malta, and United Gulf Bank in Bahrain.

Bank of Baghdad, and under its prudent management, has evolved to an international bank over the past years and is considered one of the largest private commercial banks in Iraq in terms of assets, reaching more than USD 1billion, and currently operates a domestic network of 36 branches.