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THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT Banca Intesa is wooing Garanti Bankasi is a positive sign for Turkey's banking sector. The Italian bank's offer to buy a controlling share of Turkey's third-largest private bank is said to be set for conclusion this coming autumn.
Garanti's takeover is being treated in Turkey – even by rivals – as both an encouraging prospect in its own right and a sign of even better things to come. If indeed Intesa signals a revival in the Turkish banking sector, a foreign capital injection will ensure Turkey can service its sovereign debt, cash-starved industries will make long-delayed investments in technology and formal EU entry negotiations will begin in December.
Minority shareholders that hold a third of Garanti's stock might even get a bonus of sorts beyond the obvious appeal of deep foreign pockets. That outcome involves a deal in which Garanti's parent, Dogus, agrees to buy non-core assets weighing heavily on the balance sheet without minority shareholders' participation. Those assets, including an automotive import franchise, an interest in a supermarket chain and a Mediterranean hotel, figure heavily in the bank's negative free equity of $390 million.