Commercialbank of Qatar will participate in the Government of Qatar’s proposal to buy part, or all, of the Qatar DSM equity investment portfolios of eight local banks.

Commercialbank has decided to take up the Government’s offer and has sold its entire portfolio of Qatar equities which had a net book value of QR937.9 million ($257.5 million) on both December 31, 2008 and February 28, 2009.

The Government will pay QR417.8 million in cash and provide a five-year bond of QR520.1 million which carries a coupon of 5.5 per cent.

The Bank has the right to re-purchase the entire portfolio, or any part of it, after a twelve month period from the date of sale and within a maximum period of five years at the original sale price.

“The sale of the listed Qatar equity portfolio to the Government offers additional certainty and security in these challenging financial markets. We thank the Government of Qatar for their decisive action in supporting the Qatar banking sector,” said Andrew Stevens, group chief executive officer.-TradeArabia News Service