ISTANBUL, July 2 (Reuters) - Qatar National Bank andBahrain's Arab Bank Corp did not follow up early interest inacquiring HSBC's Turkish business because they are moreinterested in National Bank of Greece's Turkish arm Finansbank,two people familiar with the matter said.
Dutch lender ING Group is set to win the auction tobuy HSBC's business, after being one of several banksto submit a non-binding bid in May.
Arab Bank Corp (ABC) was one of the originalbidders while Qatar National Bank (QNB) also showedsome early interest, Reuters previously reported.
However, two sources told Reuters on Thursday that both QNBand ABC dropped out because they became interested inpotentially acquiring at least part of Finansbank,the Turkish unit of National Bank of Greece.
"We continue to explore the market for the sale of aminority stake in Finansbank, a 34 percent stake," an NBGofficial said, without giving more details. (Reporting by Asli Kandemir; Additional reporting by LefterisPapadimas in Athens; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by MarkPotter)