Mubasher: The Kuwaiti Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) on Thursday approved the merger between Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and Ahli United Bank -Bahrain (AUB), according to Al-Qabas newspaper.

Wafra International Investment Company will participate in the evaluation and the study of the deal, PIFSS announced.

In May, AUB stated that the due diligence undertaken by the bank and KFH in relations to the possible merger between them was still in progress.

KFH achieved an increase of 9.4% in profits during the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same period a year ago, recording KWD 56.07 million.

AUB the dual-listed bank on Boursa Kuwait and Bahrain Bourse, posted a 5.6% year-on-year increase in net profit attributable to its equity shareholders for the first half of 2019, registering $377.5 million.