HSBC Holdings, Europe’s
biggest bank, is interested in buying Turkey’s Denizbank from Dexia,
the first lender to founder with the European debt crisis, two people
with knowledge of the process said.
The global
lender is vying with OAO Sberbank and Qatar National Bank, the
Gulf country’s biggest bank by assets, which said on Tuesday that
it was negotiating to buy a controlling stake in Denizbank.
QNB has
retained Citigroup to advise on the purchase, two people familiar
with the plan said, declining to be identified as the talks were
private.
For
London-based HSBC, the acquisition would expand its business in Europe’s
fastest-growing economy, which the lender entered more than 20 years
ago and where it operates more than 300 branches. Denizbank had 39bn Turkish lira ($21bn) in assets and 540 branches in the
country as of June, according to its website.
Denizbank
shares rose 6.3 percent to 16.05 lira at the close in Istanbul, giving
it a market value of more than $6bn. Brussels-based Dexia owns
more than 99.8 percent of Denizbank, with the rest traded on the
exchange, a small enough free float that Denizbank’s market
capitalization may not reflect its actual value, one of the people said.
Spokesmen for HSBC, Dexia and Citigroup declined to comment.
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