Turkey’s banks put M&A centre stage

Growing pains

THE APRIL BATTLE for Finansbank waged between Citigroup and National Bank of Greece threw a spotlight on Turkey’s booming banking sector. National Bank of Greece trumped Citi’s offer by paying €2.3 billion for 46% of the Turkish bank, valuing it at about 3.6 times price to book, setting a new benchmark for Turkish bank acquisitions. Previous deals were done more cheaply: for example, Fortis’s acquisition of a 89% stake in Disbank, which was completed in July 2005, was priced at just 1.9