Can Turkey remain immune from the crisis?
Despite the postponed privatization of Halkbank, which was scheduled for 2008, other acquisition opportunities might yet be thrown up by the rapidly changing ownership structure in international banking.
BNP Paribas’ €14.5 billion takeover of Fortis’s Belgian and French banking operations in October 2008, for example, has left BNP Paribas with both a 50% stake in TEB and a majority stake in Fortis’s Turkish banking operations. Analysts expect BNP to either merge the two banks or sell one of them, although the French bank has yet to outline its plans.
Other foreign investors might also be prepared to sell stakes in Turkish banks.
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