February 5 (SeeNews) - Turkey's competition authority (RK) has cleared a deal between conglomerate Koc Holding AS [IST:KCHOL] and Italian lender Unicredit that will see Koc increase its stake in bank Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi AS [IST:YKBNK].
The antitrust regulator has given the nod to Koc to take full control of Koc Finansal Hizmetler AS, a joint venture the conglomerate owns with Unicredit, RK said in a statement earlier this week.
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Koc and Unicredit currently jointly own a 81.9% stake in Yapi Kredi through Koc Finansal Hizmetler, or about a 41% stake each.
Koc agreed in late November to buy the 50% stake in Koc Finansal Hizmetler currently held by Unicredit as part of a deal that will see Koc Finansal Hizmetler further transfer a 31.93% direct stake in Yapi Kredi to Unicredit.
Under the terms, a 9.02% direct stake of the bank will be transferred to Koc. Upon completion, Koc will hold a total of 49.99% stake in Yapi Kredi through direct and indirect ownership, according to an earlier statement.
The bank's remaining approximately 18% holding will continue being traded on the Istanbul stock exchange.