Bahrain banks move closer to merger

• BBK and NBB in potential tie-up
• Due diligence initiated
• Move would create ‘national champion’

Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) has moved closer to a potential merger with the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) after initiating due diligence, marking the latest step toward a tie-up that would consolidate two of the kingdom’s largest lenders.

Plans to join the two banks were announced to the Bahrain Bourse in 2024, with completion expected in 2025. Goldman Sachs was appointed as financial adviser for the proposed merger.

“Considering that we are almost at the end of this year, I think this is definitely something that we would like to conclude well within next year,” Usman Ahmed, group CEO of NBB, told AGBI in an interview in November 2024.

Both banks confirmed in November 2025 that a memorandum of understanding had been signed to conduct due diligence and negotiate definitive and binding terms for a potential merger. A bourse filing on Tuesday from BBK confirmed that the process had now begun.

“A merger of NBB and BBK would create a single Bahraini national champion that would have the balance sheet size to compete with GCC banks both at home and abroad,” said AGBI columnist Andrew Cunningham, who writes and consults on risk and governance in Middle Eastern and sharia-compliant banking systems.

The two lenders have played a prominent role in the kingdom’s domestic banking, both retail and wholesale, for decades. NBB was licensed in 1957 and BBK in 1971.

Further reading:

• Bahrain considers its options to strengthen public finances
• Bahrain announces investments worth $17bn
• DHL picks Bahrain for first Mena aircraft facility

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding Company holds a 49 percent stake in NBB and the country’s Pension Fund Commission has 6.24 percent. Shareholders in BBK include the public, the Bahraini government and Kuwaiti banks and investment companies. 

NBB reported a 2 percent increase in net profit for the third quarter of 2025 to BHD19.4 million ($51.5 million) compared to Q3 2024. Over the same period BBK achieved a net profit of BHD17.9 million, up 8.5 percent year on year. 

Shares in NBB closed up 0.59 percent on Monday, while BBK gained 0.58 percent.