ECONOMY

Turk-Italian firm acquires control of Yapi Kredi

ISTANBUL (AFP) – A Turkish-Italian company has reached a deal with a leading Turkish business group, Cukurova Holding, to buy a majority stake in Turkey’s fifth-biggest bank Yapi Kredi. Koc Finansal, a joint venture between Turkey’s Koc Holding and Italy’s Unicredito, said in a statement posted to the Istanbul Stock Exchange late on Monday that it would buy 57.4 percent of Yapi Kredi, whose first-half results in 2004 valued the company at 2.05 billion euros. The financial terms of the deal will be determined when the shares change hands, the statement said. Cukurova, which also owns the biggest Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell, was forced to sell Yapi Kredi under the terms of a debt repayment scheme agreed to with banking authorities following the collapse of its other bank, Pamukbank, in 2002. In a separate statement yesterday, Koc Holding said the deal was likely to include a provision that would allow Cukurova to purchase 13.15 percent of Turkcell owned by Yapi Kredi.

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