Turkey’s biggest listed bank by assets will spin off its units to a new holding company in a bid to manage them more efficiently. Stock surges.
(Bloomberg) — Turkey’s biggest listed bank by assets will spin off its units to a new holding company in a bid to manage them more efficiently. Stock surges.
Turkiye Is Bankasi AS, as the lender is officially known, authorized its head office to transfer stakes in its subsidiaries to a company that will be incorporated as a wholly-owned unit of the bank, according to a filing after market close on Friday. They include listed glassmaker Sisecam, lender TSKB, brokerage Is Investment, builder Is REIT and private pensions firm Anadolu Hayat, as well as 11 other companies.
Pooling of the units is the largest move by Isbank to expand its investor base, while embarking on strategic investments. Sisecam, Europe’s biggest maker of flat glass, combined five glass-making units under its roof in 2020.
The latest move will likely provide added value to the bank as its large portfolio “has always been a discount factor” in Isbank’s valuation, ICBC Yatirim analyst Mustafa Oner said in an emailed note.
“A potential IPO of the new entity, divestitures and mergers of the group companies, or potential new investment areas may help unlock the hidden value of the bank’s strong participation portfolio and provide easier access to finance the projects,” Oner said, raising his 12-month price target for the bank by 45% to 24 liras.
Isbank rose 10% to 20.54 liras as of 11:44 a.m. in Istanbul, among the leaders on the benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 Index. Sisecam was up 7.2% while brokerage Is Investment traded 5.6% higher.
(Updates with prices in final paragraph.)
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