A UK court has given Turkey’s Cukurova an extra five weeks to pay the US$1.6bn to Altimo needed to recover a disputed stake in Turkcell.
The Privy Council has extended the payment deadline to 30 July, it said in a statement, noting that interest will…
A UK court has given Turkey’s Cukurova an extra five weeks to pay the US$1.6bn to Altimo needed to recover a disputed stake in Turkcell.
The Privy Council has extended the payment deadline to 30 July, it said in a statement, noting that interest will continue to accrue.
Altimo, the telecoms investment arm of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, seized the stake in April 2007 after Cukurova defaulted on the repayment of a loan for which the shares had been pledged as collateral.
Last July, the Privy Council ruled that Cukurova, controlled by Turkish businessman Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, could recover the stake if it paid about US$1.5bn plus interest to Altimo within 60 days. The court later extended the deadline to 24 June.
Cukurova, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, lost a separate Privy Council case in May requiring it to pay about US$1bn in damages to Sweden’s TeliaSonera, another Turkcell shareholder. Questions arose as to whether Cukurova would be able to make the payment to Altimo on time and, in early June, the Turkish company confirmed it was in talks with various organisations about raising financing. Recent reports stated Cukurova is close to securing funding from a local company as the Turkish government is eager for Turkcell to remain in Turkish hands.
The dispute between the three major shareholders has prevented the Istanbul based mobile operator from convening an AGM and paying dividends since 2010.
Analysts have speculated that, if Cukurova is successful in recovering the stake, the Istanbul-based operator may finally be able to resume paying dividends.
A successful repayment, however, would not necessarily resolve corporate governance issues. Altimo CEO Alexey Reznikovich was recently quoted as saying such issues will only be resolved if Cukurova exits its investment in Turkcell.
