QATAR NATIONAL BANK (Q.P.S.C.) Qatar National Bank SAQ (DSM:QNBK) said it is looking for acquisition targets in Turkey, Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa, Cief Fnancial Oficer Ramzi Mari told Reuters in an interview at the bank's Doha headquarters. "Our goal is to be the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa by 2017. So this makes us interested in some of the markets that we don't have a presence in," he said.
Opportunities were fewer than in recent years, Mari said, as European banks like Societe Generale, who had sold assets to shore up their capital bases, were now in a stronger position. Meanwhile, valuations in the Middle East and Africa, which had been depressed by the Arab Spring, were also not as low. "The pressure now is less to offload their jewel assets," Mari said.
"We want a controlling stake and the opportunities are limited. Investment banks come and throw offers on your desk and often the offer does not meet QNB criteria."
