An Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy Turkish lender Odeabank, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as United Arab Emirates-based entities hunt for growth opportunities overseas.
The $249 billion fund ADQ has been in discussions to acquire the lender owned by Lebanon’s Bank Audi SAL over the past few months, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.
No final decisions have been made and there’s no certainty that ADQ will ultimately buy the bank, the people said.
Representatives for ADQ declined to comment. Bank Audi and Odeabank did not respond to calls and messages requesting comment.
Odeabank is a midsize lender in Turkey with assets of 87.3 billion liras ($2.6 billion). Bank Audi, which established the firm in 2012, is its largest shareholder with a 76.4 percent stake.
ADQ is part of Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s sprawling empire. It’s among Gulf investors evaluating Turkish assets after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan toured the region last year to shore up investments in the $1.1 trillion economy.
During that trip, the UAE had pledged more than $50 billion to support Turkey.
Dubai Islamic Bank, the UAE’s biggest Sharia-compliant lender by assets, said in September that it’s acquiring a 20 percent stake in Turkey’s TOM Group of Companies.
Source: english.alarabiya.net
