UniCredito Set for Iktisat Bid

Turkey's banking watchdog said it had authorised UniCredito Italiano to examine necessary documents and prepare a bid to buy Iktisat Bank, one of several failed banks under state control.

UniCredito was one of four bidders for Demirbank, another of the 18 banks taken into receivership and put under the control of the watchdog's Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund. HSBC of Britain won that tender.

Aside from Demirbank and Iktisat, the watchdog has found a buyer for fellow fund bank Sumerbank, and has opened tenders for several more including Sitebank and Etibank.

Analysts say that the Iktisat sale will follow a similar course to that of Sumerbank, with the successful bidder purchasing only the bank's better assets.

"The system will be the same. They will separate non-performing loans and sell the healthy parts of Iktisat Bank," said Mete Yuksel, banking analyst at Ata Invest in Istanbul.

Iktisat was taken over by the Fund in March after a financial crisis in February that forced Turkey to float the lira, which has since lost some 50 per cent of its value. Reuters, Ankara