Sberbank said to be eyeing Turkish bank acquisition

Belgian press reports suggest that Russia’s Sberbank may be eyeing the Turkish subsidiary of the stricken Dexia.

The French-Belgium Financial group Dexia SA owns 99.79% in Deniz Bank with banks assets totalled which has an estimated $21 billion in assets and is a significant player in the Turkish market.Belgian newspaper Les Echos the board of directors of Dexia will meet on Saturday, to discuss the sale of the group's assets, including Deniz Bank and Luxembourg Banque Internationale du Luxembourg within the framework of restructuring of the Franco-Belgian financial group. “Several investors already expressed the interest to the Deniz Bank assets. Russian Sberbank has begun to choose the consultants to assist in preparing a proposal for the purchase of this asset”Sberbanks’ press service confirmed that the development strategy until 2014 does not exclude the acquisition or participation in the banking institutions of the Central and Eastern Europe. The head of Sberbank, German Gref, has mentioned earlier that markets in Turkey and Poland are a priority for the Bank.French and Belgian authorities are currently preparing a plan to restructuring plan for Dexia, which is believed to in dire difficulties due to heavy reliance on wholesale funding and the seizure of short term debt markets in Europe in the wake of ongoing concerns about Greek sovereign debt .