Khaleeji Commercial Bank takes advantage of soaring demand to establish building materials company

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About KHCB
Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), is a Bahrain based Islamic private bank, owned by a group of regional strategic investors (60%) and its founding shareholder, Gulf Finance House (40%). It offers a comprehensive range of innovative commercial and corporate banking services, wealth management, structured investment products and project financing facilities. KHCB aims to maximize the return to its shareholders and investors through sourcing new investment and financing opportunities.

In 2007, KHCB earned a net income of BD21m, an increase of 164% over the previous year, in addition to increasing its assets by 180% to BD269m. The return on average equity was 23.4% for 2007, following an increase in paid up capital from BD30m to BD100m.

About Gulf Finance House
Founded in 1999, Gulf Finance House has grown rapidly to become one of the most respected investment banks in the Middle East region in terms of the quality and innovation of its product offerings. Over an eight-year period Gulf Finance House has successfully launched economic infrastructure development projects and investments with an aggregate end value exceeding $20bn and received numerous awards for its innovative approach to Islamic banking and finance. Its shares are actively traded on the London Stock Exchange (GDR), the Kuwait Stock Exchange, the Bahrain Stock Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market. 2007 was the most successful year in the banks' history, closing with a net profit of $340m, an increase of 61% compared to the previous year.

Reflecting its international reputation, Gulf Finance House has won numerous local and international awards, such as 'Best Investment Bank' for three years in a row in 2005, 2006 and 2007, awarded by The Banker Middle East, 'Bank of the Year 2006' awarded by the Arabian Business Magazine and 'Best Islamic Real Estate Finance House' awarded by Euromoney.

About Abu Dhabi Investment House
Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) was established in 2005 by a combination of leading financial institutions and a group of prominent businessmen and investors from the Gulf region. The main focus of ADIH is to tap into and explore the existing and emerging potential of private equity, corporate finance, real estate, asset management, investment placement, in addition to managing Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), as well as, the management of domestic and international securities. ADIH enjoys unique relationships with various and numerous leading financial and investment institutions, including prominent decision makers within the GCC and Europe.

Since inception, ADIH has been associated with major landmark infrastructural projects across the region including: Beirut Gate (Lebanon), Qatar Entertainment City Qatar, Sunset Hills, PortaReef and The Lagoon - Amwaj Islands (Kingdom of Bahrain), in addition to enormous successful investment funds such as India Entertainment City, Al Joud Private Equity Fund. ADIH has also recently launched its $7bn mega prject: Porta Moda, a mixed developed with a focus on fashion and style. The project is due to be implemented in Morocco, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Tunisia and India.

About CNBM

China National Building Material Group Corporation is the largest state-owned building materials group. It was incorporated in 1985 upon the approval from the state Council and is a holding company. It is one of the 191 large-scale groups under the administration of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
After 20 years' development, CNBM Group has grown into the backbone enterprise and plays the leading role in the building material industry.
CNBM Group is among the top 500 Chinese companies. With China's entry into the WTO and the globalization of world economy, the competitive pattern of building material industry has undergone great changes. They have timely adjusted our competitive strategies and carried out the most comprehensive assets reorganization and businesses streamlining; they formulated the 8 business platforms including international building materials trading, engineering & design, new building materials and housing industry, chemical building materials, cement, composites, glass and scientific research etc. They moving fast toward a challenging destination: a globally competitive building materials conglomerate with sustainable growth.

About Sambu
Sambu Construction Company Limited, the first and leading construction company in the Republic of Korea has been established in 1948. Sambu has been involved in numerous works as the frontrunner in civil works. It has demonstrated outstanding technologies in construction of major dams harnessing their nations resources and building its infrastructure. Sambu also provides sophisticated architectural technology in addition to its expertise in the redevelopment, reconstruction and construction of housing units for sales. Sambu's technical expertise is also embodied in the several plant works that it has completed including iron and steel, oil refinery, cement. Sambu has been involved in several projects at home and abroad such as the Federal Highway #2 in Malaysia, Seifullina Office Project in Kazakhstan, National Folk Museum of Korea, Government College of Commerce and Management Science in Pakistan, King Fahad Sports City in Saudi Arabia and many others.