Abu Dhabi Bank Taps Expats With Barclays Buyout

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB) is seeking to bring a boom in Shariah-compliant lending to the expatriate population in the UAE. ADIB agreed to buy the conventional retail assets of Barclays Plc (BARC) in the United Arab Emirates for 650 million dirhams ($177 million). The deal is the second of its kind for ADIB, which bought a stake in Egypt’s National Bank of Development in 2007. ADIB has been a corporate-focused bank so having a larger retail footprint will be positive for balancing it’s loan book. Barclays’s U.A.E. customers will notice a difference during the transition, even while they won’t experience any disruption.