Emirates NBD said to plan March bid for Sberbank unit

Istanbul: Emirates NBD is preparing to submit a bid for Sberbank PJSC’s wholly-owned Turkish unit in March, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Dubai’s biggest bank is evaluating an offer for Denizbank AS, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. It could take several months before Sberbank decides whether or not to sell, they said.

Emirates NBD last month said it started preliminary discussions for the Denizbank stake. A deal for Sberbank’s 99.9 per cent holding could be valued at as much as $4.12 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations. Denizbank had a book value of $3.44 billion at the end of September and Turkish banks trade at an average of 1.2 times book value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)