Subsidiary of the Swedish telecommunications holding Telia Company intends to raise USD 515mln for 153.5 million shares the 14% stake of Turkish Turkcell. Telia’s Sonera Holding B.V. has ceased accepting applications for the purchase of Turkish Turkcell shares. As a result of the transaction, the Swedish company will reduce its stake in Turkcell from 38% to 24%. Telia will own the remaining stake indirectly via Turkcell Holding.
The company plans to focus on Nordic and Baltic countries mainly.
51% of Turkcell shares are controlled by Turkcell Holding A.S., which is 52.91% owned by Cukurova Telecom Holdings Ltd., and 47,09% belong to Telia.
There is a conflict in Turkcell, as Alfa Group claims 13.2% of Turkcell shares, which Cukurova provided as collateral for USD 1.7bn in 2005 and not paid timely.
To note, Turkish Turkcell is the sole owner of Ukrainian telecommunications Astelit, later rebranded as lifecell.
