BBVA acquires more shares in Garanti

ISTANBUL

Spanish lender Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has acquired 41.79 million shares in Garanti Bank from Doğuş Holding and Doguş Araştırma Geliştirme ve Müşavirlik Hizmetleri at a cost of 7.95 Turkish Liras per share.

The completion of the nearly 3.32 billion-Turkish Lira (roughly $917 million) acquisition, which totals around 9.95 percent of the bank, is conditional on the approval of the general assembly of each of the sellers, as well as regulatory approval.

The acquisition is expected to be completed sometime in the first half of 2017, Reuters noted. 

Doğuş Holding Chair Ferit Şahenk will continue to serve as the chairman of Garanti, business daily Dünya reported. 

BBVA initially invested in Garanti in 2011, acquiring a 25 percent stake. This was followed by an additional stake purchase in 2015, which made BBVA the main shareholder in the Turkish lender with a share of 39.90 percent.

BBVA is a Spanish bank that was founded over 160 years ago in the northern port city of Bilbao. It is the second-largest bank in Spain.

The lender said on Feb. 1 that its net attributable profit rose 31.5 percent to 3.475 billion euros in 2016 from a year earlier, the highest figure since 2010. 

It said the results were supported by a favorable trend in recurrent revenues, controlled spending and reduction in restructuring costs.

The 2016 net profit figure includes a negative impact of 404 million of 577 million euros gross provision made in the fourth quarter to cover possible future claims related to the European Court of Justice’s ruling on floor clauses in Spain’s mortgage loans.

The impact of the depreciation in exchange rates, the change in the consolidation parameter due to the integration of Catalunya Banc and the acquisition of a further 14.89 percent of Garanti were the other factors that impacted the balance sheet. 

Garanti Bank posted a net profit of 5.07 billion liras ($1.35 billion) in 2016, up from 3.4 billion liras in 2015, the lender said in a statement to Borsa Istanbul, the Turkish stock exchange, on Jan. 31.