The London Metal Exchange is selling its entire stake of about 2 percent in clearing house LCH.Clearnet to Borsa İstanbul and will work with the Turkish stock exchange to develop products for the steel market, the LME said.

The LME, the world's biggest and oldest market for industrial metals, has been seeking to boost profits by expanding its range of products and is due to launch new steel contracts in October.

The LME and its owner, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx), plan to partner with Borsa İstanbul on the dissemination of market data on the LME's steel billet contract, the LME said in a statement.

No financial details of the deal were given.

LME contracts were cleared through LCH.Clearnet before the 138-year-old exchange launched its own clearing house last year.

The LME said earlier this month it was launching its new steel rebar and scrap contracts on Oct. 26, adding to its existing steel billet contract.

"The HKEx Group looks forward to working with them (Borsa İstanbul) on future initiatives, not only in data and base metals, but also across other asset classes,” said Garry Jones, chief executive of the LME and HKEx’s co-head of global markets.

Borsa İstanbul said on Mar. 3 it planned to go public in Ankara's latest move to bolster its $220 billion equity market, which has punched below its weight for years.

Borsa İstanbul, the country's only stock exchange, said it expected to list up to 43 percent of its capital through the sale of most of the shares now held by the national Treasury.