Turkey’s Paribu buys majority stake in Bahrain’s CoinMENA, valuing it at up to $240 million

ISTANBUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Turkish digital asset platform Paribu said ​on Friday it acquired ‌a majority stake in the Bahrain ‌and Dubai-based cryptocurrency platform CoinMENA in a transaction valuing the company at up to $240 million.

The ⁠transaction marks ‌Turkey’s largest fintech transaction to date, as well ‍as its first cross-border acquisition of a digital asset platform.

Yasin Oral, founder ​and CEO of Paribu, ‌said in a statement the deal was a “turning point” for Paribu with its expansion into the Middle East and North ⁠Africa region.

“With this ​acquisition, we have ​expanded our licensed operations to a wider geography, becoming ‍a regulated ⁠player in one of the world’s most crypto-adoptive markets,” ⁠he said.

(Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing ‌by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing ‌by Tom Hogue)