The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today won control of the Rashid Hussain group, beating out two other rivals with a new offer of RM2.25 billion.

"The board of United Banking Group Bhd (UBG), after careful consideration, is pleased to announce that it has decided to accept the proposed revised offer (for its stake in RHB), subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals," UBG said in a statement.

UBG said EPF's revised offer for its 32.8 percent stake in the company was raised to RM2.25 billion today from RM2.20 billion previously.

EON Capital had said in a statement late yesterday that it was increasing its offer for RHB to RM1.97 and for RHB Capital Bhd to RM5 from RM1.80 and RM4.80.

At those prices, the EON Capital offer was worth about RM2.38 billion for the 32.8 percent RHB stake.

Foreign bidder

Earlier, Kuwait Finance House Malaysia, a consortium of Middle East interests, offered RM2.16 billion for the UBG holding.

Shares in Rashid Hussain, Rashid Capital, in which it owns 65 percent, and UBG were all suspended from trading after sharp gains earlier in the day.

Islamic banking group Kuwait Finance House - through its Malaysian subsidiary - led the Middle Eastern consortium which includes the Gulf Cooperation Council of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The group had said it is prepared to pump in RM12 billion to create the world's largest Islamic bank after purchasing UBG's stake.