Russian investment firm Alfa has won its right to hold shares in Turkish mobile operator Turkcell (representing 13.22%) that were previously held by controlling shareholder Cukurova, Alfa said in a press release.
The Court of Appeal of the Eastern…
Russian investment firm Alfa has won its right to hold shares in Turkish mobile operator Turkcell (representing 13.22%) that were previously held by controlling shareholder Cukurova, Alfa said in a press release.
The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Alfa, which owns its Turkcell stake through investment arm Altimo, validly appropriated Cukurova’s shares in 2007. This 13.22% stake was taken from Cukurova following a number of defaults committed by the latter under a US$1.35bn loan agreement, which was originally secured between the two in November 2005.
Cukurova currently owns around 14% of Turkcell, but effectively controls it via a majority ownership of Turkcell Holding, which owns 51% of the mobile operator.
Evgeny Dumalkin, VP of Altimo, said: “We welcome this milestone decision that should conclude the 5-year litigation between Alfa and Cukurova.
“While in 2009 the Privy Counsel confirmed that Alfa had properly appropriated Cukurova’s shares in Turkcell, the Court of Appeal has now confirmed that Cukurova has committed at least three defaults and that Alfa now validly owns the Turkcell shares.”
