$170 million syndicated loan to Şekerbank

Şekerbank has received 1-year term syndicated loan that amounts $170 million from the international markets. The agreement for the loan was signed on August 5, 2008. Thus, the bank has renewed the 1-year tranche of the 1- and 2-year term $250 million syndicated loan which was received in 2007.

At the signing ceremony held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Dr. Hasan Basri Göktan, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Şekerbank and on behalf of the lead arranger group of banks, i.e Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Emirates NBD PJSC, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich, and Wachovia Bank, NA, Abdul Wahed Al-Fahim, Corporate Banking General Manager, Emirates NBD PJSC given speeches.

The term of the loan made available with participations in dual currencies as USD and EURO has been set as one year, and the base rate of interest as Libor + 0.80%.

The transaction was launched to the market with an initial amount $100 million and was completed as $170 million under the leadership of the arranger group composed of the reputable banks of the world, 21 banks in total have participated to the loan.

In his speech during the signing ceremony, Dr. Hasan Basri Göktan, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Şekerbank, emphasized that the acquired syndicated loan has reaffirmed the trust of the international markets for Turkey and Şekerbank, and said, "We believe that the economic success Turkey has achieved in recent years will be continued successfully in the coming period as well. The growth brought by this continuity in the economic success will keep increasing the attention in the banking sector. In line with this understanding, the main theme of our business plan that we created together with our partners last year is Anatolian banking. We have been concreting our discourse with our services we render especially to micro enterprises, SME's as well as our branching efforts in regions that could not benefit from the conventional banking services sufficiently. And with this loan in which the international markets have shown great interest, we intend supporting our SME's in financing of the foreign trade."

Abdul Wahed Al-Fahim, Corporate Banking General Manager, Emirates NBD PJSC, on the other hand, said that Turkey that is located in close proximity and having strong ties with Europe and the Middle East represented a very attractive market for international investors. Al-Fahim expressed his opinions on the Turkish economy and banking sector as follows: "The Turkish economy has grown at an average of around 6.7% since 2002. The financial sector has played an important role in Turkey's economic development and remains one of the key pillars of the economy. The structure of the financial sector has also been improving with the advent of foreign players and continued development of local players. A growing middle class in Turkey has ensured that bank’s credit to the private sector expands rapidly. With a strong domestic base and demand, the Turkish financial system has remained relatively unaffected by the current global financial crisis and therefore represents an attractive investment outlet for global investors looking to diversify their portfolios."

Al-Fahim also expressed his satisfaction with the transaction saying, "On behalf of the Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers, I thank Şekerbank for reaffirming its trust on our capabilities and giving us the opportunity to arrange an important financing in prevailing global market conditions. Oversubscription of 1.7 times in such global market conditions is a commendable achievement reflecting at excellent credentials of Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers as well as acceptability of Şekerbank in global markets. This is the second time Emirates NBD, Wachovia, Commerzbank and RZB have worked jointly as an arranger group for Şekerbank and we hope this excellent co-operation will continue in future as well."