DUBAI: The National Investor (TNI), without denying the reported merger discussions with Arqaam Capital, said it holds various discussions with multiple parties to explore potential transactions that will create value for shareholders.

“Such discussions are usually unique in their preliminary phases given the market dynamics that we operate in,” TNI said in a regulatory filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Arqaam Capital said “there is no comment to be made on this,” in an email to Gulf News.

Bloomberg had earlier reported the investment banks were in talks about a combination that would create an entity with an equity value of about $250 million (Dh918 million). Arqaam would have management control of the merged bank and its investors would hold about 40 per cent.

Arqaam Capital is a specialist emerging markets investment bank providing research on more than 280 listed Middle East and Africa (MEA) companies across 26 countries and 15 sectors. TNI listed in Abu Dhabi is focused on principal investments, merchant banking and asset management activities in the UAE. TNI shares are generally illiquid and the price was at Dh0.57.