UTRECHT, Netherlands, Dec. 14, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Rabobank and Voluntary Pension Fund (majority owner of Sekerbank) have reached an agreement as a first step in a strategic partnership, which would lead Rabobank to own a majority interest in the Turkish bank Sekerbank. Both institutions, having their roots and backgrounds in co-operatives, feel that there is a natural cultural match in this joint effort to lead to a partnership. The planned partnership is in line with Rabobank's international 'country and international retail banking' strategy, which is based on building and acquiring long term bank partnerships with reputable players in a selected number of countries around the world. The potential partners will have a particular focus on retail business, mortgage lending, SME's and an affinity with the local food&agribusiness sector.The parties expect that their partnership will help Sekerbank improve its market position, by Rabobank bringing its reputation, injecting new capital and offering its expertise. Together they are able to service their Turkish and international customers with a wider range of products in Turkey. Synergies will also be explored with respect to the servicing of retail clients in the Netherlands. Over time, it is hoped that Sekerbank will become an important component of Rabobank's international network.
About Sekerbank
The Turkish bank Sekerbank, the Bank of the Sugar Beet Cooperatives, was established in 1953. In its early days, the bank's primary role was to act as intermediary between the government and the domestic sugar beet sector (farmers and factories), making payments and providing cash advances. It also invested in companies that supplied services to the industry such as those processing the crop, producing farm machinery and related activities.
Sekerbank has traditionally been a lender to corporate and commercial clients. Recently, Sekerbank has started a transformation process concentrating its efforts more on developing its retail and commercial business through new products and automated services. As one of the most established banking brands in Turkey with its deep rooted past, Sekerbank has a staff of 3328, a network of 200 branches, of which 43 in Istanbul, 27 in Ankara and the remaining 130 distributed throughout the country's 60 provinces. It is the third largest among the privately owned banks in terms of geographic coverage.
About the Rabobank Group
The Rabobank Group is the world's most creditworthy privately owned financial institution (and the only commercial bank with a triple-A rating). The Rabobank Group is the largest financial service provider in the Dutch market. Owing to its co-operative foundation, the Rabobank Group's primary drive is to act in its clients' interest. Its core objective is to create and increase customer value. It has over nine million private and business customers and is market leader in the Netherlands in virtually every area of financial services. The Rabobank Group consists of over 300 independent local Rabobanks in the Netherlands, all of them co-operatives with a combined total of 1.5 million members. The Rabobank Group also encompasses internationally well known specialised entities such as Rabobank International (corporate banking, investment banking and international retail banking), De Lage Landen (leasing and vendor finance), Gilde Investment (venture capital), Interpolis (insurance) and Robeco (asset management). Its international network encompasses 236 offices in 34 countries. . Since 1996 Rabobank International has a presence in Turkey, specialised on wholesale banking to prime companies in Food and Agriculture.
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CONTACT:
Ernst Moeksis, Press Office Rabobank Group + 31 30 - 216 43 04 / + 31 6 22 60 71 87, e.m.j.moeksis@rn.rabobank.nl