Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial said on Sunday it had agreed to merge with Pioneers Holding, a tie-up analysts have said would be complementary.

Pioneers will issue 100 million new shares, giving Beltone a 17 percent stake in the merged company.

"The board of directors of Beltone Financial agreed to merge with Pioneers Holding," Beltone said in a statement on Sunday.

"This merger will establish the biggest entity in investment banking in the region," Beltone's chief executive Alaa Sabaa said in the statement.

Beltone, which oversees some $5 billion in assets, is based in Egypt and has offices in New York, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

A Beltone representative told Reuters the deal would exclude the firm's private equity arm, and that the merged entity would have separate management teams for institutional and retail investors.

Pioneers, which specialises in brokerage services, offers market research and investment banking for retail and institutional clients. It operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Syria. - Reuters