ISTANBUL, 27 March 2005 — Nordic telecoms company TeliaSonera said on Friday it had agreed to pay $3.1 billion in cash for a 27 percent stake in Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell from the debt-laden Cukurova group.
The companies still have to finalize the deal, but if the sale goes through TeliaSonera’s stake in Turkey’s leading GSM operator will rise to 64.3 percent while Cukurova’s stake will fall to 13.5 percent.
TeliaSonera Chief Executive Officer Anders Igel told Reuters the purchase would be financed from the company’s “strong balance sheet”. He said the company had not decided if it would borrow the funds. “It is an amicable deal which will pave the way for TeliaSonera to expand in Turkey and in the region,” he said.
The Nordic region’s largest operator has been seeking growth opportunities outside its saturated domestic markets. Cukurova, with interests ranging from construction to tourism, said it had received an offer from TeliaSonera on Thursday evening for its 52 percent share in Turkcell Holding, which has a 51 percent stake in the mobile operator. “The offer was found to be acceptable and the decision was taken to hold talks on the sale of the shares,” it said. Turkcell shares jumped as much as 9 percent on the news and closed 4.84 percent higher at 9.75 new lira in Istanbul.