UPDATE 1-Merrill Lynch agrees to buy Turkey's Tatbank http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-08-31T142531Z_01_L31411012_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-MERRILL-TATBANK-UPDATE-1.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
Thu Aug 31, 2006
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LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to buy Turkish bank Tat Yatirim Bankasi (Tatbank), including its brokerage unit Tat Menkul, the U.S.-based brokerage said on Thursday.
The acquisition is subject to approval by the regulator, Merrill Lynch said in a statement, without disclosing financial details of the deal.
The move comes as investment banks increasingly target emerging markets to expand as revenue growth slows in their traditional markets.
Earlier this week Germany's Commerzbank bought a stake in Russian retail bank Promsvyazbank, while Italy's Unicredit (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) is said by sources familiar with the matter to be looking at Russian brokerage Aton.
Kubilay Cinemre, Merrill Lynch's head of global markets and investment banking in Turkey, said the region was a key focus for the U.S. investment bank.
"This acquisition will provide us with the necessary licences to build our local equity and debt sales and trading capabilities, as well as enable us to further enhance our investment banking business," he said.
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