Bank Nizwa proposes Alizz Islamic Bank merger backed by Ominvest investment

Proposed merger could bring Ominvest in with a stake of up to 20%

Last updated: July 17, 2026 | 15:41

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

Bank Nizwa proposes Alizz Islamic Bank merger backed by Ominvest investment

AFP

Dubai: Oman's Islamic banking sector could be headed for one of its biggest shake-ups in years after Bank Nizwa proposed acquiring Alizz Islamic Bank and merging it into its operations, while bringing Ominvest on board as a strategic shareholder.

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The proposal, disclosed through the Muscat Stock Exchange on Thursday, would combine two established players in the country's Islamic banking market and create a larger lender with a broader customer base and stronger capital support.

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Bank Nizwa plans to acquire the entire issued share capital of Alizz Islamic Bank from Oman Arab Bank at an indicative valuation of 1.2 times book value before folding the business into its own operations.

Ominvest to become strategic shareholder

The proposed transaction would also introduce Oman International Development and Investment Company, better known as Ominvest, as a significant shareholder in the combined entity.

Ominvest's board has approved participation in the funding structure supporting the acquisition.

If completed, the investment company could own up to 20% of Bank Nizwa through the subscription of newly issued shares.

Proceeds from the share issue would be used to help finance the transaction.

Bank Nizwa also plans to raise additional funding through the issuance of perpetual Additional Tier 1 sukuk.

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The companies did not disclose the size of Ominvest's investment, the value of the transaction or the planned sukuk issuance.

Subject to approvals

The proposal remains non-binding and still requires negotiations, due diligence and approvals from regulators, shareholders and other parties involved in the process.

Alizz Islamic Bank currently operates as a wholly owned banking subsidiary of Oman Arab Bank following its takeover in 2020.

Its transfer to Bank Nizwa would alter the structure of Oman's Islamic banking market and create a larger institution with greater scale.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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