Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentina SA, Spain’s second-largest bank, will buy a 24.9 percent stake in Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS, Turkey’s leading bank, for $5.9 billion.
BBVA will purchase an 8.6 percent of the stake in Garanti from GE Capital for $3.776 billion, according to GE’s statement. The other 6.3 percent will come from Dogus Holdings AS in exchange for $2.06 billion. Both BBVA and Dogus will hold 24.9 percent stakes in the Turkish bank, which will allow them to share management responsibilities, BBVA’s statement says. Garanti is Turkey’s leading banking franchise with 9.5 million clients and 837 branches.