Chinese Icbc Completes Acquisition Majority Stake In Tekstilbank

- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) announced that it had completed the acquisition of a 75.5 percent stake in Tekstil Bankası A.Ş. (Tekstilbank) from GSD Holding A.Ş., resulting in the first business institution operated in Turkey by a Chinese bank.

Turkey's banking watchdog approveD sale of Tekstilbank to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC), on April 3. GSD Holding, had signed the agreement with ICBC, to sell its 75.5 stake in Tekstilbank for 669 million lira in April 2014.

Tekstilbank is a licensed depository bank in Turkey and mainly engages in operations such as corporate banking, SME banking and retail banking. It also provides securities brokerage, investment banking and assets management services through its subsidiary Tekstil Securities.

Tekstilbank has sound business fundamentals and local operating capability with 44 branches and around 900 employees. Its branches are located in Turkey’s most economically developed regions which together account for approximately 70 percent of Turkey’s GDP.

"The economic ties between the two countries date back to over two thousand years ago when the historical Silk Road was established" the ICBC said in a statement released on Monday. "As important emerging economies today, China and Turkey complement each other in areas such as capital, technology and markets."

At present, China is Turkey’s third largest trading partner and second largest importing country. According to the long-term trade target set by the governments of China and Turkey, the bilateral trade balance is expected to exceed 100 billion dollars by 2020.

China and Turkey already have extensive cooperation in areas like high-speed rail, electricity generation, aerospace and satellites. Turkey has also become an important overseas EPC market for Chinese enterprises.

ICBC has established a global network of approximately 400 overseas institutions providing services to 42 countries and regions. In addition, ICBC has a coverage of 20 African countries through its 20% strategic equity investment in Standard Bank of South Africa.