Turkiye Halk Bankasi, a government-owned lender, is considering to divest its insurance subsidiary Halk Sigorta and its life insurance and pensions subsidiary Halk Hayat ve Emeklilik.
The lender conveyed its intention in a disclosure to the Istanbul Stock Exchange BIST on July 22. Halkbank directly owns 94% of the pension business and 89% of the non-life unit.
Three people with knowledge of the matter were quoted by Bloomberg as saying that the bank has hired Citigroup to advice on the sale of its non-life and private-pension units.
The planned disposal is expected to conclude before the end of the year, the people told the publication.
The disclosure stated that the board of Halkbank has taken the decision to sell the two subsidiaries either as a whole or in part through Turkey’s Privatization Administration (OIB).
The planned divesture is part of Halkbank’s strategy to exit insurance business.
In order to realize its plan, Halkbank has commissioned its general directorate for process management pertaining to the sale of its direct or indirect shares in Halk Insurance and Halk Life and Pension companies.
It is believed that Talanx, Zurich Insurance Group and Sompo Japan Insurance Group could place their bids to buy the business, the sources said.
In addition, American International Group, Aegon, AXA, Assicurazioni Generali could be in the list of potential bidders.
Image: Halkbank Headquarters in Ankara. Photo: courtesy of Vikiçizer.