Credit Europe Bank NV, which operates in Malta, has acquired a 95 per cent stake in Turkey-based Millennium Bank AS, a subsidiary of Banco Comercial Português SA, for e61.8 million.

The bank will be rebranded as Credit Europe Bank AS, joining the Dutch bank’s international network that currently consists of banks in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Malta, Russia, Romania, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Ukraine and liaison offices in Istanbul and Shanghai.

End of 2009, Millennium Bank SA had 310 employees and 18 branches and it reported a total balance sheet of e495 million including e315 million of customer deposits. The bank is authorized to perform all types of commercial banking services and operates in corporate banking and in upper segment retail (Affluent) banking.

The remaining five per cent of the shares in Millennium Bank AS are part of a put and call mechanism between the buyer and the seller. This will allow Credit Europe Bank NV to buy this stake at a later stage.

From 1987 until 2006, FIBA Holding AS, the parent of Credit Europe Bank NV, had been active in Turkey under the name Finansbank AS. After growing to the fifth largest private bank in Turkey, this entity was sold in August 2006 to the National Bank of Greece SA.

The acquisition is subject to approval of Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the Turkish Banking Regulatory Supervision Agency (BRSA).