Garanti Bankasi is understood to be raising a three-year loan of $200 million through arranger UBS for the purchase of Osmanli Bankasi (Ottoman Bank - MEED 12:4:96).

The interest rate will be 2.1 per cent over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), banking sources say.

At the end of the second year, lenders will have an option to extend for a further year, according to the banking sources. The loan is being raised for Clover Investment Company, a wholly-owned Garanti subsidiary based in Malta.

In a deal valued at $245 million, Clover on 1 April purchased all outstanding shares of Ottoman Bank's Netherlands' parent, Compagnie Ottomane d'Investissements (COI). The latter in turn is majority controlled by France's Group Paribas.