UniCredito Italiano, the Italian bank, is to prepare a bid for the acquisition of the seized Turkish bank, Iktisat bank, as reported by Turkish bank regulators.
In March, Iktisat bank was taken over by banking authorities—a move that was aimed at cutting the excessive number of banks in the country and reviving the banking sector.
Additional international banks were interested in acquiring Iktisat bank, yet banking regulators made no official mention of them.
Following the most recent financial crisis that hit Turkey in February, two banks have been taken over by regulators and sold to private Turkish companies. One of the banks was merged with five minor institutions. HSBC, the British bank, is still negotiating the acquisition of a third bank, Demirbank.
It is expected that by the end of the current year several other Turkish banks that are presently controlled by the state will be sold.
UniCredito Italiano is the largest banking group in Italy in terms of operating income and market capitalization. The bank was founded in 1998 when Credito Italiano and Rolo Banca merged with Cariverona, Cassa di Risparmio di Torino and Cassamarca.
Today, UniCredito is comprised of seven member banks in Italy and another four recently acquired in Central and Eastern Europe. The bank has become the third largest western banking group in Central and Eastern Europe. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
