March 16 2021 The trend of consolidation continues to dominate the business scene in Bahrain's financial industry. This has been led by the completion of the public takeover offers of Bahrain Islamic Bank by the National Bank of Bahrain and further announcements relating to the acquisition of Ithmaar Bank by the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), as well as an auction of the closely held Bahrain AXA insurance firm. BBK's acquisition would bear similarities to the Bahrain Islamic Bank acquisition, in that a conventional bank would acquire an Islamic bank. There has also been a notable increase in reorganisations, with major international players often buying out local partners, including in the food and beverage manufacturing industry and within the engineering field.