Chairman of the board of the directors of Banco Commercial Portugues (BCP) Jorge Jardim Goncalves said that they intended to start from scratch in Turkey, but believed in Turkey's potential and future.
BCP, one of the 20 biggest banks in Europe, purchased Sitebank via its Greek subsidiaries Novabank and Saving Deposit Insurance Fund, calling it Bankeuropa.
Speaking to Turkish journalists at BCP's Lisbon headquarters, Goncalves said they wanted to grow inside Europe and opted for developing markets like Turkey, Greece and Poland. Indicating that they believed in the potential and future of the Turkish market, Goncalves said, "We are beginning from zero in Turkey but we believe that we'll be successful."
Why via a Greek Bank?
Member of the board of the directors for Turkey and Greece, Francisco Lacerda said they turned to outside markets as capacity for growth was limited in Portugal. Asked why BCP had bought Sitebank through Greece and not directly, or with, a Turkish company?" Lacerda replied, "We may act sometimes with our banks in Portugal and sometimes with outsiders. In this case, we used Novabank. Furthermore, it is not important where the money comes. Sometimes commercial reasons are put forward. This is the only reason."
Reiterating that they believed in Turkey's potential, Lacerda said, "We invested in Turkey because we saw favourable investment conditions there. Our aim is to become one of the leading banks in the Turkish banking sector."
BCP Grows to 62-billion Euros in 20 Years
Focusing on market segmentation, it obtained 26 per cent of the Portugal banking sector in a short time with numerous subsidiaries such as Private Bankers, Nova Rede, Banko 7, Atlantico and Sotto Mayor. The name of every newly purchased bank was protected, the same quality of service was provided through standard operations and technology to its client groups, comprising different profiles of every subsidiary bank.
Tezcan Yarmanci, former chairman of the public partnership administration, was appointed chairman of the board of the directors of Bankeuropa. The bank aims to target specific income groups in Turkey.
