Greek bank buys 46 percent of Turkish Finansbank's share

National Bank of Greece (NBG), Greece's largest financial institution, bought 46 percent of Turkish Finansbank's share with 2.7 billion US dollars, Finansbank said in a statement on Monday.

Finansbank said the Fiba Group, which owned the bank, signed the deal with NBG in the Greek capital Athens on Monday.

Of Finansbank's remaining 54 percent of stake, 9.68 percent was owned by Fiba Group's Executive Chairman Husnu Ozyegin and the rest 44.32 percent held by Turkish and foreign investors.

Ozyegin said Finansbank and NBG would enjoy success throughout a wider region and not just in Turkey and Greece.

NBG Chairman and Chief Executive Takis Arapoglu said with the acquisition, his bank was becoming a true regional player.

NBG has 590 branches in Greece and it is also operating in 12 countries. Finansbank is the fifth largest private bank in Turkey and its total number of employees is 11,300.

Source: Xinhua