Turkish banking authorities said on Friday, October 5, they would renew a tender for the sale of a troubled private bank after dismissing as insufficient a purchase offer by a top Turkish business group.
The bidder, Koc Holding, had offered to buy only four percent of Etibank's assets and some 45 of its 159 branches, a statement by the banking regulation and supervision board said. "The offer has been considered inadequate and it has been decided to put Etibank on sale anew," the board added.
Turkish authorities have bailed out a total of 18 troubled banks as part of a drive to reform Turkey's ailing banking sector, at the core of severe financial turmoil that erupted last November and culminated in a full-blown crisis in February.
Two troubled banks had been merged to form Etibank, with the aim that the combined entity would be more attractive to potential buyers. Last month, British financial giant HSBC bought one of the bailed-out banks, Demirbank.
Most of the institutions have been merged into bigger banks, while one was shuttered after it did not attract a buyer despite reform efforts. Turkish companies have bought several banks. Two foreign institutions, Greece's NovaBank and Italy's UniCredito Italiano, have declared interest in buying a bank.
No procedures have so far been launched for the sale of four remaining banks. Under an IMF-backed economic recovery program of May, the banking board aims to
complete the sale of the banks by the end of the year. — (AFP, Ankara)
© Agence France Presse
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
