Turkey is to assess whether the failed Pamukbank could be merged with a state bank after bids for it fell short of expectations, a state banking body said on Wednesday.
The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, which holds Turkey's failed banks in receivership, said in a statement that bids from Finansbank and Hussein Nuaman Soufraki (HNS Group) were rejected as inadequate.
The two bids were made by a July 31 deadline.
The banking watchdog cited a capital shortfall of $2.5 billion when it seized Pamukbank in June last year.
It subsequently injected new funds into the bank to boost its capital ahead of the planned sale, which it pledged to complete as part of an International Monetary Fund programme.
Some 20 private banks were seized by the state amid a financial crisis which triggered Turkey's worst recession since World War Two.
Pamukbank was previously controlled by the local Cukurova Holding, which also holds a major stake in leading Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell.