Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg NewsA Sberbank branch in Moscow.
LONDON – Sberbank of Russia is in exclusive talks to buy DenizBank, a Turkish subsidiary of the struggling French-Belgian lender Dexia, for $4 billion, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The deal would give Sberbank, controlled by Russia’s central bank, access to the fast-growing Turkish market, which has continued to grow despite the effects of the European debt crisis.
The Russian bank and Dexia, which received a multibillion-dollar bailout from the French and Belgian governments last year, are expected to announce late on Thursday that they are in exclusive talks, one person said, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The discussions are expected to last until mid-June.
Dexia’s disposal of DenizBank is part of the firm’s efforts to sell off assets, after the financial firm received a bailout from authorities last year and moved to sell off assets.
The British bank HSBC had been in the running to acquire DenizBank, but pulled out of the process, according to another person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Sberbank’s efforts to expand into Turkey follow a similar move into Eastern Europe earlier this year when the Russian bank bought Volksbank International, a subsidiary of the Austrian lender Oesterreichische Volksbanken, for 505 million euros ($636 million).
Rothschild and Deutsche Bank are advising Sberbank on the deal.
Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/sberbank-of-russia-in-talks-to-buy-denizbank-for-4-billion/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.