Qatar Insurers Discuss $1.6 Billion Merger

DOHA, 8 August 2005 — Three Qatari insurance companies are discussing a 5.8-billion-riyal ($1.6 billion) merger to help them compete with foreign players encroaching on their territory, government and industry sources said yesterday. Qatar Insurance Co — the Gulf state’s biggest insurer — Al Khaleej Insurance and Doha Insurance are in the preliminary stages of merger talks, a government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “It is still early days and nothing has been decided yet,” he said.