Board of Oman International Bank 'OIB' is pleased to announce that at the Extraordinary General Meeting 'EGM' held on Wednesday 9th May 2012, OIB shareholders approved the proposed merger with the Oman branch 'HSBC Oman' of HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd 'HSBC', an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc with its own operations. The merger remains subject to regulatory and other approvals and completion is expected by 3 June 2012. Under the terms of the merger, HSBC will inject additional capital of up to US$97.4m into HSBC Oman prior to the merger with OIB and HSBC will be issued with new shares equivalent to a 51 per cent shareholding in the combined entity. OIB will continue to be listed on the Muscat Securities Market and will be renamed HSBC Bank Oman SAOG. PwC acted as lead financial adviser to OIB. Commenting on the merger, Dr Ali Juma, Chairman of OIB said: "We are very pleased that OIB shareholders have approved the merger with HSBC Oman. The merger is expected to be transformational for OIB and is anticipated to bring significant potential benefits to customers, shareholders and wider stakeholders in Oman." Adding "On behalf of the board and shareholders , I would like to thank PwC who provided valuable advice and Trowers & Hamlin who acted as legal advisors to the bank ." Commenting on the merger, Yousef Bazian, PwC Middle East Corporate Finance Leader and who lead the team advising OIB, said: "We are delighted to have acted as lead financial adviser to OIB on this iconic transaction which will create the second largest bank in Oman. We offer our congratulations to the shareholders, board and management of OIB for their hard work, skill and tenacity in bringing the merger to this stage." PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC 'PwC' is acting exclusively as financial advisor to OIB and no one else in connection with the merger and will not be responsible to anyone other than OIB for providing the protections afforded to clients of PwC or for providing advice in relation to the merger or any other matters referred to in this announcement. Press Release
