Turkey’s Wealth Fund is in advanced talks to buy a $530 million stake in telecom company Turkcell that is owned by Telia, the Swedish telecom company said on Tuesday.
Telia said it owns 47.1% of Turkcell Holding, a holding company owned by Cukurova, LetterOne and Telia. The holding company owns 51% of Turkcell.
“Negotiations are still ongoing and are in an advanced stage, but no agreement has yet been reached,” Telia said in the statement.
Turkcell’s shares were up 2.08% at Tuesday’s close. Telia shares were up 5.5% before trading in the stock was suspended, after Bloomberg HT reported news of the deal earlier on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
Turkcell’s ownership has long been the subject of a dispute between its main shareholders.
Stefan Gauffin, an analyst at DNB Markets said it would be positive for Telia if the deal went ahead. “It’s a tricky stake to sell because you need to end the deadlock among the shareholders,” he added.
Turkcell and the wealth fund were not immediately available for comment.
Source: Reuters.com