Kuwait's Burgan gets nod for Turkish buy

By Reuters
  • Saturday, 8 December 2012 5:52 PM
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Burgan Bank has received approval from Turkey's banking regulator for its planned purchase of Eurobank's Turkish arm, Kuwait's state news agency reported on Saturday.

Burgan said in April it planned to buy a 99.26 percent stake in Eurobank Tekfen. It will acquire 70 percent of the lender from Tekfen's Greek partner EFG Eurobank in a $355m deal, while the remaining 29.26 percent stake will come from Tekfen Holding for an unknown sum.

Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BBDK) said in a statement on its website it had approved the sale.

Eurobank Tekfen was put up for sale in July, as EFG Eurobank, Greece's second largest bank, sought to strengthen its capital base. Burgan Bank, the commercial banking arm of Kuwait Projects Co, said it will use internal funds for the deal.

While Greek banks seek to shore themselves up in the face of protracted recession, Gulf investors have been looking at Turkey as a natural target in the face of unrest in the Middle East and debt crises in Europe and the United States.

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