ICBC taps new business in Turkey

ISTANBUL - Chinese capital has accomplished a small but a significant step in emerging market of Turkey with world's giant lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) agreeing to buy Tekstilbank's 75.5 percent of its shares, local specialists in Istanbul said on Friday.

ICBC purchased all of the shares of Turkish financial services provider GSD Holding in Tekstilbank for $315.4 million at the end of April.

The remaining 25 percent of the bank's shares are traded on Borsa Istanbul.

The head of GSD Holding Turgut Yilmaz said that "It is easy to buy products from China but it is very difficult to sell something. I have been trying to finalize the purchase with the world's largest bank ICBC for a period of 20 months."

Yilmaz said that the price of the purchase was a very convenient one since the bank license fees in Turkey stand at $300 million. "To this price I have given an already established bank with 44 branches," he said.

Tekstilbank has been operational in Turkey since 1986.

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