(Bloomberg) -- First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC is studying potential acquisition targets in Turkey, including Yapi Ve Kredi Bankasi AS, as part of the Emirati lender’s hunt for growth opportunities overseas, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

FAB, as the UAE’s largest lender is known, has held early exploratory talks with the owners of several Turkish banks, the people said. For several months, its been evaluating the possibility of acquiring Yapi Kredi, which is currently valued at 241.6 billion liras ($7.6 billion), according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Deliberations are still at a preliminary stage and there’s no certainty that FAB will ultimately pursue a deal, the people said. Representatives for FAB and Yapi Kredi declined to comment.

“As an investment holding company, we may evaluate alternatives regarding our portfolio and engage in discussions with relevant parties as necessary at all times,” the Turkish lender’s majority owner, Koc Holding AS, said in a statement to the stock exchange. Koc said it was responding to investor queries about an unspecified report that a Middle Eastern bank is studying acquisition targets in Turkey.

Yapi Kredi shares rose 9.4% to their highest level on record. Koc’s stock rose as much as 8% before paring the gains to 2% at 12:32 p.m. in Istanbul. 

FAB is the latest UAE lender to express interest in Turkish assets after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan toured the Mideast Gulf region in July to shore up investments in Turkey’s $1.1 trillion economy. Dubai Islamic Bank, the UAE’s biggest Sharia-compliant lender by assets, said in September that it’s acquiring a 20% stake in Turkey’s TOM Group of Companies. 

During Erdogan’s trip last year, the UAE pledged more than $50 billion to support Turkey after years of animosity between the two countries over political differences. Erdogan has sought to mend ties with the petrostates in an effort to attract the billions of dollars he needs to put Turkey’s finances on a more secure footing.

Read more: Turkey Gets $51 Billion Pledge of Economic Support From UAE

With a $40 billion valuation, FAB is more than five times as valuable as Istanbul’s Yapi Kredi. The Emirati lender has made several attempts to acquire a lender outside the region in search for growth. Last year, it was weighing an offer of as much as $35 billion for Britain’s Standard Chartered Plc and tried to buy Egypt’s biggest investment bank in 2022. 

A deal in Turkey could easily be upended by the uncertain macroeconomic environment in the country, according to one of the people familiar with FAB’s thinking. The country’s central bank has in recent months pivoted toward tighter monetary policy, putting restraints on consumption that accounts for more than half of gross domestic product.

Yapi Kredi, Turkey’s seventh-largest lender by assets, is part of the country’s largest business and industrial group, Koc Holding. With a population of more than 85 million, Gulf lenders see Turkey as a promising market to expand in given its geographical proximity and their familiarity with the domestic banking system. 

--With assistance from Ercan Ersoy, Beril Akman, Patrick Sykes and Asli Kandemir.

(Adds Koc statement in fourth paragraph, updates shares in fifth.)

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