Bank Asya shares skyrocket over 44 percent in three days

ISTANBUL

Announcement of Qatari partnership talks gave boost to Bank Asya shares.

Islamic lender Bank Asya has seen its shares jump by over 44 percent within three days after Qatar Islamic Bank said it had entered into exclusive discussions to acquire a stake in the Turkish lender.

The shares of the bank were traded over the ceiling price at 1.5 Turkish Liras in the morning with a 10.29 percent rise.

Bank Asya on March 25 said it had started talks on a strategic partnership with QIB and planned to complete the process soon.

A day after the announcement, the QIB also confirmed the news, saying the parties are in talks over stake acquisition possibility.

The Islamic bank has been in focus since Turkish media reported state-owned companies and institutional depositors loyal to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have withdrawn 4 billion liras ($1.8 billion), or some 20 percent of the bank’s total deposits.

 The withdrawal was reportedly caused by the fact that bank’s founders included sympathizers of cleric Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of being behind the graft probe.

Bank Asya said it had weathered the mass deposit withdrawals and was not at risk.