Mubasher: Negotiations to merge the three Qatari banks, namely Masraf Al Rayan, Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ), have been halted after the shareholders haven’t reached an agreement on the price.

The merger talks are now “on hold and it’s not clear if the deal will be revived,” sources told Bloomberg News.

In 2017, the three Qatari lenders had reached an initial agreement over pricing, but now their consolidation talks hit a roadblock, sources added.

The merger process had been expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

In December 2016, the three banks announced their intention to integrate together to create Qatar's largest Islamic bank and the Middle East's third- biggest bank, with assets of more than QAR 178 billion and a capital of QAR 22 billion.