Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB) still plans to exit its investment in Abu Dhabi-based Al Noor Medical Co through an initial public offering but has not set a firm deadline, its chief executive said.

'Nothing has changed with regard to the IPO. That's still on our agenda,' Emad Mansour, QFIB's chief executive, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference. 'These transactions don't have a strict deadline. It's about getting the maximum value.'    

Mansour said in February that the company planned to list Al Noor Medical on the Abu Dhabi bourse in May.  QFIB has a 14 percent stake in Al Noor through a consortium which holds 50 percent. The consortium had named HSBC and JP Morgan to assist in the IPO process.

The company's plans to deploy $250 million for deals in 2011 have stalled in the short-to-medium term amid regional turmoil, Mansour said, adding that the company is looking at deals in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait.

But QFIB and Dubai-based specialist regional asset manager Gulfmena Alternative Investments plans to set up a sharia-compliant asset management firm should be completed within two or three months, he said, pending regulatory approval.

The two firms said last year that they would create the joint asset management firm to tap into rising demand for Islamic investment products.

QFIB was launched in 2009 and is the first, non- affiliated sharia-compliant investment bank to be regulated by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority. - Reuters