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| HSBC'nin CEO'su Stuart Gulliver |
Gulliver’s Turkey trot
Recent history suggests that when the words HSBC and turkey appear in the same sentence, they refer to ill-conceived takeovers rather than a thriving economy in eastern Europe.
Stuart Gulliver, who became chief executive of the bank at the start of the year, is attempting to change that impression.
Investors would be forgiven for feeling wary. Last year’s attempt to acquire Nedbank, the South African lender, was seemingly handled so ineptly that HSBC’s own advisers did not realise the deal was being aborted until just before the news hit dealers’ screens. Europe’s largest bank is also still contending with the clean-up necessitated by its disastrous takeover of Household, the US subprime lender.
Mr Gulliver has been presented with an early opportunity to demonstrate a surer touch. His strategic review, which set out in May a 12-15 per cent target for return on equity from 9.8 per cent now, identified Turkey as an important market for expansion.
According to people close to HSBC, it has tabled an indicative offer for DenizBank, a retail bank owned by Dexia, the Franco-Belgian lender brought down by the eurozone crisis. It faces a considerable obstacle, however. Just as turkeys are reluctant to endorse the celebration of Christmas, DenizBank’s management is said to have expressed a preference for an offer from Qatar that would leave it in situ. The fate of that rival offer is unclear.
That is not Mr Gulliver’s only target in Turkey, though. Bank insiders tell me that he is equally, if not more, keen to gain control of Finansbank, which has its own link to the European turmoil: it is owned by the National Bank of Greece and may well be put up for sale next year. A successful integration of an acquisition in a key growth market would provide both a test of Mr Gulliver’s ability to reshape HSBC, and the chance to shed a reputation for shoddy dealmaking.
