Abdullah Tamari buys stake in Intra Investment

Deal worth over $40 million

British-Iraqi businessman Nadhmi Auchi has sold his share in Intra Investment Company to Lebanese businessman Abdullah Tamari. Auchi had a 14 percent stake in the company, around 1.6 million shares. The deal is worth over $40 million.

The market value of Intra shares is estimated at $25 per share. “The company underwent a re-evaluation lately and the share price was increased,” a source close to the deal said. In 2006 Intra was estimated to be worth $200 million.

Tamari is one of the main shareholders in the Arab Bank and is represented in its Board by his son, Wehbe Tamari.

Intra Investment owns 53 percent of Casino du Liban, and 98 percent of the local investment bank, Finance Bank. Its holdings include real estate properties and plots. Intra distributed dividends of $0.89 per share in 2011.

Intra’s ownership is distributed among the Central Bank (35 percent), the Lebanese government through the Ministry of Finance (10 percent), the Kuwaiti National Bank (4 percent), and the Qatari government (3 percent). The remaining shares are held by local, Arab, and foreign companies and individual investors.