Qatar National Bank announced to buy Turkey's Finansbank for $2.95 Billion

Qatar National Bank has landed into an agreement to buy Turkey's Finansbank for 2.7 billion euros.

According to Reuters, the Gulf Arab region's largest bank, Qatar National Bank revealed on Tuesday, 22nd of December that they have stepped into an agreement with the National Bank of Greece. The deal will enable the Qatar National Bank to get hold of an entire 99.81 percent stake in Turkey's Finansbank for 2.7 billion Euros ($2.95 billion).

On Tuesday, the Doha-based lender said in an e-mailed statement that the deal to buy NBG's 99.8 percent holding in Finansbank AS will be facing regulatory approvals and its closure is anticipated in the first half of 2016, as mentioned by Bloomberg. The statement also revealed that State-controlled Qatar National Bank will remain "strongly capitalized" after the acquisition. Additionally, the money required to purchase the deal will be from its own funds.

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Group Chief Executive Officer said in the statement, "This transaction is a significant milestone in Qatar National Bank's vision to becoming a the Middle East and Africa icon by 2017 and a leading global bank by 2030," 

Previously in 2006, National Bank of Greece purchased Finansbank for the equivalent of $5 billion. At that time, it was labeled as Turkey's biggest-ever banking deal.

Finansbank has been marked as a major driving factor behind the National Bank of Greece's profit. On the other hand, on agreeing to the conditions of a European Union bailout, the Greek lender agreed to sell its stake.

The National Bank claimed  that Finansbank's $910 million debt will also be paid by the Qatar National Bank to the Greek lender, as mentioned by Economic Times. Officials of National Bank also said that it will use the profit generated to pay back 2 billion euros of assistance it received from Greece's bank rescue fund previously. This will be done by issuing contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) and would save about 150 million euros annually.

The deal will also help the Greek lender  to put off its dependence on emergency liquidity assistance from the Greek central bank, which is comparatively more expensive.

"Finansbank's sale confirms the commitment made by National Bank's management to implement the bank's restructuring plan consistently, as well as its long-term strategy to use its capital effectively to the benefit of the Greek economy," National Bank said in a statement. 

Qatar National Bank claimed in a statement that the board of directors of both banks and the General Council of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund has approved the closing of the transaction.