SNR Denton has advised HSBC on a major deal to grow its Middle East presence via a merger with Oman International Bank (OIB).

The deal, which has been structured as a merger of assets rather than a takeover, will see HSBC take a 51% stake in the Omani bank, which has gross assets of $3.2bn (£2bn).

OIB, which was advised by Trowers & Hamlins, is Oman's fifth-largest bank and has 85 branches in the country, while HSBC currently has nine branches and $2.5bn (£1.5bn) worth of assets in Oman.

The combined entity will be renamed HSBC Bank Oman.

The SNR Denton team advising on the deal was led by Muscat corporate head George Sandars, alongside lawyers from the office's banking and dispute resolution teams and the firm's Qatar corporate group.

Oman corporate head Charles Schofield and banking and corporate partner Roger Byrne led the Trowers team.

The mandate for SNR Denton marks a rare corporate role for HSBC in the Middle East. The transatlantic firm is an HSBC panel member, but its Middle East practice has to date handled mainly banking work for the client.

Sandars commented: "The deal was especially interesting because of how it was structured, with a particular challenge of keeping it within the merger regime. We have an existing strong relationship with HSBC in the Middle East, mainly for banking work, but it was a good deal to be instructed on as it marked a rare recent corporate transaction of significant size in the slow Middle East market."
The deal was announced last month (18 April) and is expected to close in six to eight weeks.