Burgan Bank gets c.bank approval for Turkish buy

KUWAIT, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Burgan Bank said onSaturday it had received approval from the Kuwaiti central bankfor its planned purchase of Eurobank's Turkish arm.

Burgan said in April it planned to buy a 99.26 percent stakein Eurobank Tekfen. It will acquire 70 percent of the lenderfrom Tekfen's Greek partner EFG Eurobank in a $355million deal, while the remaining 29.26 percent stake will comefrom Tekfen Holding for an unknown sum.

Burgan, which is the commercial banking arm of KuwaitProjects Co (KIPCO) , said the deal still needs finalapproval from Turkey's regulators.

Eurobank Tekfen was put up for sale in July, as EFGEurobank, Greece's second largest bank, sought to strengthen itscapital base. The Kuwaiti lender said it will use internal fundsfor the deal.

While Greek banks seek to shore themselves up in the face ofprotracted recession, Gulf investors have been looking at Turkeyas a natural target in the face of unrest in the Middle East anddebt crises in Europe and the United States.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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Keywords: BURGANBANK TEFKEN/