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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The financial arm of General Electric Co. has reached an agreement with a Turkish conglomerate to pay about $1.6 billion for a 25.5 percent share in Garanti Bank, Turkey's third largest privately owned bank, the Turkish company said Thursday.
GE Consumer Finance is the latest foreign bank to buy stakes in banks in Turkey, a country which is scheduled to start European Union membership talks in October. The acquisitions are a sign that the troubled Turkish banking sector, seen as the main cause of a financial crisis in 2001, is recovering.
Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, GE Consumer Finance and Turkey's Dogus Holding "will form an equal partnership." The bank's board will continue to be chaired by Dogus Holding CEO Ferit Sahenk, while Ergun Ozen will remain Garanti Bank's president.
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