Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, said that it was in talks with Dubai banking group Emirates NBD over selling Denizbank.
"Discussions are at an early stage. At the current time there is no exact information on whether a deal will take place. Sberbank regularly looks at potential market opportunities and will only announce its next steps if there are significant changes," the bank said in a statement.
Sberbank and Denizbank confirmed the talks in separate statements, Bloomberg reported.
Sberbank bought Dexia SA’s Turkish unit Denizbank for about $3.5 billion in 2012. Denizbank was Turkey’s ninth-largest lender by assets at the end of September, according to country’s banking association. The Moscow-based lender also held discussions with other Gulf-based lenders, people familiar with the matter said.
