Spanish bank BBVA acquires stake in Turkey’s Garanti for $5.9 billion
03 Nov 2010
Spain's second-largest bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) yesterday agreed to acquire a 24.9-per cent stake in leading Turkish lender Turkiye Garanti Bankasi (Garanti) for approximately €4.2 billion ($5.9 billion), making a foray into the lucrative Turkish financial market.
BBVA is buying 18.6-per cent stake from the US multinational giant General Electric Company, and 6.3 per cent from Turkey's diversified conglomerate the Dogus Group, the major shareholder of Garanti.
The transaction has been agreed at a price of 8.00 Turkish lira ($5.66) per share of Garanti, representing a 10-per cent discount to last week's average closing price for the share.
BBVA chairman Francisco Gonzalez said, ''BBVA wants to be in markets with the highest growth potential. Turkey, through a leading bank such as Garanti, is undoubtedly one of them''
Turkey is projected to have a higher growth potential of around 5 per cent for the period 2009-2012, compared to 1.6 per cent for the European Union and 3 per cent for the Central and Eastern European economies.
Further to completion of the deal, both BBVA and Dogus each would have 24.9-per cent stake in Garanti. BBVA has also reached an agreement with Dogus for joint management of the bank.
