QNB Buys New 49.9% Stake in Tunisian Qatari Bank

Doha, January 23 (QNA) - QNB Group has picked up and additional 49.9% stake in the Tunisian Qatari Bank (TQB) and increased its total share holding to 99.96% the Qatari bank said in a media statement here Wednesday. QNB's total shareholding is subject to approval from the regulator in Tunisia as well as Qatar. The TQB was established in 1982 as the country's first investment bank. Later in 2004, it became the first Tunisian joint venture bank with a license to undertake all kinds of banking activities in association with the Government of Qatar. In 2008, QNB substituted the Government of Qatar by acquiring its 50% stake in the TQB. The Tunisian government later on put most of its remaining shareholding in the bank for sale through an international bid offer launched in the last quarter of 2012. The bidding's results showed QNB Group as the winner, which will raise the Group's shareholding to 99.96%. The TQB has 19 branches and employs 198 persons. QNB Group would strengthen and support the technical and administrative resources of the TQB and boost risk management, the statement added. (QNA)