D Commerce Bank AD (Bulgaria)

D Commerce Bank, which is successor of Demirbank Bulgaria, is servicing mostly Turkish companies operating in Bulgaria. Bulgarian central bank licensed Demirbank Bulgaria for operations both in the country and abroad in March 1999. At the onset, Demirbank Bulgaria, which had an equity capital of USD 8.4 million, was fully-owned by Turkey's Cingilli Holding AS, which was the owner of Turkey's Demirbank. In end-2000, Turkish authorities nationalised Turkey's ninth biggest bank Demirbank and put it under control of the state Banking Supervision Board. Demirbank Bulgaria was not affected by the troubles of its parent company since it operated as a Bulgaria-registered entity with a separate balance sheet rather than as a branch of Demirbank.
In July 2001, global bank HSBC Holdings purchased all the domestic assets of Demirbank. Six bids were filed for the acquisition of a 100% in Demirbank Bulgaria - Italian banking group UniCredito, the Dutch-based TBI Holding, Japan's Tokushokai Corporation, Bulgarian foreign trade firm Chimimport, a Turkish consortium and the Turkish company Bilgi Dis Ticaret. In September 2001, Demirbank Bulgaria was purchased by a Turkish consortium comprising of the former owner of the bankrupt Turkish bank, Halit Cingillioglu and Aydin Dogan, the owner of Dogan Holding. The Turkish consortium offered a total of USD 95 million to acquire control over Demirbank's subsidiaries in Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In October 2004, the Dogan family became owner of 60% in Demirbank Bulgaria. The bank changed its name into D Commerce Bank at the end of 2004 to reflect the new ownership structure of the bank. In September 2006, Bulgaria's central bank allowed Turkish businessman Fuat Guven to buy 100% of D Commerce Bank equity. D Commerce Bank operates a network of more than 50 branches and offices across the country.