Masraf Al Rayan (MAR) - a leading bank in Qatar- announces its acquisition of the Islamic Bank of Britain Plc (IBB) by its wholly owned subsidiary "Al Rayan (UK) Limited". The announcement came after the approval of IBB shareholders to the offer made by Masraf Al Rayan on 28 November 2013 and the change in control approval from the Prudential Regulatory Authority in the UK.

Today morning February 3rd 2014, at 7am UK time, Al Rayan (UK) Limited announces the offer has completed. Masraf Al Rayan also announces the raising of IBB's Tier 1 capital to GBP100 million through issuing of new shares totaling 7,575,400,000 shares, at GBP75.75 million. As a result, Al Rayan (UK) Limited equity holding in the IBB will reach11, 921,189,979 shares equivalent to 98.34% of the issued shares.

On the occasion, Mr. Adel Mustafawi, the Group Chief Executive Officer at Masraf Al Rayan, said "We are delighted to announce the completion of the acquisition of the Islamic Bank of Britain, as it becomes a member of Masraf Al Rayan group, and now, we start a phase of hard work towards achieving our planned goals and objectives. We promise our customers in IBB and Masraf Al Rayan positive future prospects that will be available to them to benefit from our products and services which are compatible fully with the Islamic Sharia. Our customers will also benefit from the open channels of communication and cooperation between the two banks which will provide them with opportunities both in Qatar as well as in the United Kingdom without any complexities".

Masraf Al Rayan announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2013, posting a net profit of QAR 1.7 billion, an increase of 13.2% compared to the fiscal year 2012. MAR currently operates 11 branches in Qatar, supported by a wide network of ATMs distributed strategically throughout the country. MAR offers a wide range of sophisticated banking channels to better facilitate customer services, like Al Rayan Mobile (Mobile banking service), Al Rayan Net (Internet banking service), Al Rayan Phone and Al Rayan SMS, all providing MAR customers with greater convenience and security.

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