PRESS: Sberbank to sell Denizbank for $5.5 bln in Jul–Sep

MOSCOW, Mar 26 (PRIME) -- Russian national top lender Sberbank may sell its Turkish subsidiary Denizbank to Dubai’s bank Emirates NBD for U.S. $5.5 billion and close the deal in July–September, Kommersant business daily reported Monday citing sources close to Sberbank.

“Sberbank’s head German Gref received a commercial offer not connected with politics from Emirates NBD exactly at the moment, when he was “theoretically considering a Denizbank sale due to sanctions risks,” one of the sources said.

Emirates NBD is the largest bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in terms of assets and is actively developing international direction. The bank currently operates in the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, Singapore, the U.K., and has representative offices in China and Indonesia. Entering the Turkish market is in line with the bank’s international expansion, one of the sources said.

The sides plan to finally determine the price and receive an approval by the Turkish regulator by mid-April.

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