Qatar National Bank buys Turkish lender
DOHA, June 15, 2016
Qatar National Bank (QNB) has completed the acquisition of Turkey's Finansbank, said the Gulf's largest lender in a statement on Wednesday.
The transaction is the latest for the Qatari lender, which is now the largest bank in the Middle East and Africa by assets, having brought Societe Generale's Egyptian business for $2 billion in 2013, and a 23.5 percent stake in pan-African lender Ecobank International in 2014.
National Bank of Greece had to put its Turkish subsidiary up for sale to plug a capital shortfall identified by European Central Bank (ECB) stress tests in October, with QNB announcing an agreement in December to buy the bank for 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion).
Finansbank is the fifth-largest privately-owned bank by assets in Turkey.-Reuters