Turkey's Yapi Kredi abandons insurance sale plans

The company had said two weeks ago it was pursuing the sale of its Yapi Kredi Sigorta insurance unit despite the global crisis.

"Work on selling or finding a partner for the bank's insurance activities ... has ended because it was understood the negative developments in global market conditions meant the desired value could not be reached," the bank said.

"These companies will continue to conduct their activities successfully as they have until now within Yapi Kredi Bank," it said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Yapi Kredi Bank said in February it had hired Merrill Lynch and UniCredit CA IB as advisors to help it reorganize its operations in the insurance sector.

Turkey's fast-growing and fragmented insurance sector has attracted a number of foreign buyers in recent years, including France's AXA, Britain's Aviva and Spain's Mapfre.

However, the global financial crisis and economic slowdown has hit Turkish markets hard, and Turkey's economic growth has slowed sharply this year.