GSD seeks buyer for Tekstilbank
Posted by meb at March 28th, 2008
GSD Holding, a Turkish company with interests in textiles and banking, said it is seeking a buyer for Tekstilbank, a corporate and retail lender. GSD plans to hold talks with investors on a possible partnership, cooperation or sale of shares, GSD said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reported. Speculation that the sale might already be sealed sent Tekstilbank up in the stock exchange yesterday, as the shares rose to YTL 2.1 mid-afternoon, gaining nearly 24 percent in one day. That jump values the bank at YTL 621 million ($490 million.)
“There were rumors that a sale was imminent,” Alpay Dinçkoç, an analyst at Oyak Securities in Istanbul, said in an e-mailed note to investors. “This news might be suggesting that a deal could be expected soon.” Tekstilbank is one of the few publicly traded Turkish lenders without a foreign partner.
Turkish banks are seeking capital to compete in an economy that expanded an average of about 7 percent from 2002 through 2007. Citigroup and HSBC Holdings are among the international banks to buy stakes in Turkish lenders over the past five years.
GSD Holding owns 75.5 percent of Tekstilbank, which had a profit of YTL 42.5 million last year as its loan book expanded 23 percent to YTL 2.08 billion, according to the company’s Web site. The bank has 60 branches in 21 provinces of Turkey, including 29 in Istanbul.
GSD gained 23 percent to YTL 1.18. Alternatifbank, a Turkish bank that is yet to sell a stake, added nearly 10.4 percent to YTL 1.49.
Source: Turkish Daily News
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