Freedom Holding completes Turkish Bank acquisition, expands into banking

Freedom Holding Corp. said it completed its acquisition of Turkish Bank A.Ş. through its subsidiary Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş., setting up the Istanbul lender to be renamed Freedom Bank A.Ş. after the share transfer. The move gives Timur Turlov’s group a direct banking presence in Turkey, a market that sits between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

The closing follows a deal Freedom first announced on March 11, when it said it would acquire a 99.32% stake in Turkish Bank from Özyol Holding and the National Bank of Kuwait. Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency approved the transaction on July 1, clearing the way for completion at the end of July. Freedom also completed a US$300 million ordinary share offering in July, adding fresh capital as it pushes further into banking.

The timing matters because banking offers a financial group more than a new logo on a branch sign. A local bank controls deposits, payments and customer relationships in a way a brokerage cannot, and it can support lending, wealth management and other fee-generating services. For Freedom, which describes itself as a leading retail brokerage and investment bank in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, Turkey adds a regulated platform in a large and competitive market where scale and local licenses still matter.

Turkish Bank brings its own history to the transaction. Turkish Bank Group says the lender traces its roots to 1907, making this less a fintech-style entry than the takeover of a long-running institution with an existing customer base and operating infrastructure. That gives Freedom a faster route into the market, but it also raises the stakes on integration: systems have to mesh, compliance standards have to be met, and the new owner has to prove the acquisition can lift earnings rather than absorb management attention.

The deal also reflects a wider push by financial firms to expand across borders as growth slows in some home markets and regulation pushes business toward larger, better-capitalized groups. Turkey offers a bridge for that strategy, but it also carries investor risks tied to supervision, execution and the broader volatility of cross-border finance. Whether Freedom’s bet looks smart will depend less on the closing notice than on how quickly Turkish Bank becomes a profitable part of the group’s regional franchise.