White & Case has advised Spanish bank BBVA on its acquisition of a 9.95% stake in Garanti Bank from Dogus Group for approximately EUR 859 million. The Verdi law firm advised Dogus Group on the deal, which will give BBVA a 49.85% stake in Garanti.
BBVA first acquired a 24.9% stake in Garanti from GE and Dogus Group for USD 5.8 billion in 2010 in what was the world’s second largest M&A transaction in the banking sector at the time and the largest private M&A transaction in Turkey to date. Subsequently, in 2015, BBVA acquired an additional 14.89% stake from Dogus Group for approximately EUR 1.9 million. White & Case advised on the previous share acquisitions.
The White & Case team advising on this most recent transaction was led by Partner Asli Basgoz and Local Partner Ceylan Kara and included Partner Guniz Gokce, Tax Counsel Hakan Eraslan, and Competition Advisor Sezin Elcin Cengiz, all in Istanbul). Also advising on the deal were Partners Guy Potel (London), Stuart Willey (London), and Andreas Wieland (Frankfurt), Local Partner Lucy Xu (Shanghai), and Associates Sarah Shennib (London) and Yi Ying (Washington DC).
The BBVA legal team members working on the transaction were Eduardo Arbizu Lostao, Maria Jesus Arribas de Paz, Jacobo de Nicolas y de Benito, and Elena Chavarri Padilla.
The Verdi team consisted of Partner Can Verdi and Associate Lara Turker Unsal.
