Slaughter and May and White & Case have won lead roles on a $5.9bn (£3.6bn) deal involving Spanish and Turkish banks, reports The Am Law Daily.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentina (BBVA), Spain's second-largest bank, is acquiring a 24.9% stake in Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, Turkey's leading bank.

BBVA will purchase 18.6% of the stake in Garanti from GE Capital for $3.8bn (£2.3bn), while the other 6.3% will come from Turkey's Dogus Holdings for $2.1bn (£1.3bn).

GE turned to regular adviser Slaughter and May and Turkish law firm Paksoy. Slaughters partner Andy Ryde, who led the magic circle firm's team, has worked on a number of GE deals in the past, including Banco Santander's 2008 acquisition of GE businesses in Germany, Finland, and Austria, its credit card businesses in the UK and Ireland, and its auto business in the UK.

BBVA was advised by White & Case, which fielded a team led by partner Asli Basgoz in Istanbul, assisted by Meltem Akol of Akol Law Offices in Istanbul and Mehtap Yildirim-Ozturk of Cakmak Law Offices.

Other White & Case partners on the deal included Greg Stonefield, Maya Melnikas, Mark Powell and Lucian Bondoc. Turkish firm Verdi & Yazici represented Dogus Holdings.

The deal is part of BBVA's strategy to decrease its reliance on Spain as the country's economy struggles to free itself from its worst recession in 60 years. Turkey's economy, on the other hand, expanded 10.3% in the second quarter this year.

The Am Law Daily is a blog on law.com, Legal Week's US affiliate title.

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