Corporate News

4Q 2009

Fitch upgraded Garanti's long-term FC rating to BBB-, short-term FC rating to F3 and support rating to 3, thus bringing Garanti to investment grade.

In November, Garanti signed a syndicated term loan agreement in the amount equivalent to US$ 700 million. The dual tranche loan is composed of US$ 151.6 million and €365.6 million tranches with the participation of 35 key relationship banks representing 15 countries. Marking the first syndicated loan transaction with a renewal rate of more than 100% in 2009, the loan will be used for pre-export financing and has a maturity of one year. The all-in cost of the transaction is LIBOR+200 bps and EURIBOR+200 bps, respectively.

In November, Garanti signed a credit agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a facility of € 50 million which will be on-lent to small-sized enterprises.

In December, Garanti obtained a US$ 100 million loan with a maturity of 10 years from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an independent US Government agency, to be on-lent to SMEs. This is the first transaction where OPIC is lending directly to a bank in Turkey.

In December, Garanti was granted a loan by the European Investment Bank in the amount equivalent to €100 million with a maturity of 12 years. The proceeds of this transaction will be on-lent to SMEs according to EIB's eligibility criteria.  
Garanti has provided a US$ 280 million project finance facility and a US$ 30 million revolving credit facility to MMK Atakas 2.3 million tons per annum greenfield integrated flat steel project. Sponsored by MMK (Russia) and Atakas Group (Turkey), the project will be realized with an estimated total cost of US$ 1,728 million and will be completed by the end of 2010.

Garanti has provided a 12 year US$ 93 million project finance facility to 40.2 MW Niksar Hydro Electric Power Plant Project to be constructed in Kelkit district, Tokat province. The Project is sponsored by IC İbrahim Çeçen Yatırım Holding (Turkey) and AES Corporation (USA).

In October, Garanti provided a long-term facility of US$ 50 million, backing Alarko Holding and Cengiz Insaat's acquisition of electricity distribution company Meram Elektrik Dağıtım for US$ 440 million. This was the first long term financing activity in the Turkish electricity distribution market privatizations.

Garanti has provided an acquisition facility to Bridgepoint Capital Limited to finance the fund's first investment in Turkey, the acquisition of 1/3 stake in TUVTURK from Akfen Holding. TUVTURK is the operator of whole vehicle inspection business in Turkey. The acquisition also covers 100% shares in Adana-İçel-Hatay and 33% shares in İstanbul sub-operating companies.

Garanti has joined a bank-club that provided a US$ 600 million dual-currency facility with a three-year tenor to Turk Telekom. Garanti has participated to the club-loan, which was provided by 18 local and international banks, with € 45 million.

Bonus Card Platform that was launched in 2002, reached 8 member banks with the addition of Eurobank Tekfen. Bonus Card, being issued by DenizBank, ING Bank, TEB, Şekerbank, TFKB and Garanti Bank International in addition to Garanti, will also be marketed by Eurobank Tekfen as of 2010. Bonus Platform continues to grow as the largest card platform of Turkey with more than 10 million cards. 

With the aim to continuously add value and convenience to its customers, as a first in Turkey, TT Multimatik, the booth where Garanti's Paramatik and Türk Telekom's Pay Phone are located together, was launched in November to provide both banking and telecommunication services. 

Garanti's achievements further recognized on international platforms during the quarter:

• Garanti received "STP Excellence Awards 2008" from Deutsche Bank for the 7th consecutive year for achieving high Straight Through Processing (STP) payment volumes with rates of 98.4% for € payments and 99.1% for US$ payments.  
• Garanti has been selected as "The Best Bank of Turkey in Cash Management" in "2009 Cash Management" poll organized by Euromoney magazine.
• Garanti was awarded two grand prizes for media planning strategies at the "MediaCat Felis Awards". The use of private media for the Bonus card image-building campaign brought the Bank two first place awards: #1 in "Adults" Target Audience category and #1 in media category for "Best Use of TV".
• The first corporate social responsibility project "No Limits In Teaching" of Garanti's "Teachers Academy Foundation" won its first award from Active Academy.
• Garanti Annual Report 2008 is a winner of 3 more awards in the League of American Communications Professionals' (LACP) 2009 Spotlight Awards Competition. The report received "Gold Award" in EMEA Annual Reports and another "Gold Award" in the category of Best Agency Materials. Most importantly, it is recognized as one of the Top 100 Communications Materials of 2009 and among more than 1,000 entries Garanti report ranked 23rd. Garanti Annual Report 2008 is also recognized with a "Gold Award" in Eco-Friendly Design category in Creativity Annual Awards, one of the longest running international advertising and graphic design competitions.