In the ongoing Turkcell ownership dispute, Cukurova has succeeded in its appeal against a court ruling ordering Cukurova to pay US$1.4bn into an escrow account by early March.
The news was reported by Reuters, which referred to a senior Altimo official…
In the ongoing Turkcell ownership dispute, Cukurova has succeeded in its appeal against a court ruling ordering Cukurova to pay US$1.4bn into an escrow account by early March.
The news was reported by Reuters, which referred to a senior Altimo official for the information. Altimo is one of the shareholders in Turkcell.
Cukurova had appealed to the British Privy Council against a December 2011 lower court order concerning the ownership of Turkey’s biggest mobile phone operator.
The Eastern Caribbean appeal court had ruled in December that Cukurova has to pay US$1.4bn within 90 days into a court account to prevent a July 2011 court decision from taking effect.
According to the July ruling Cukurova had defaulted on a US$1.4bn loan to Russian investment firm and fellow Turkcell shareholder Altimo, with which it has been embroiled in a long and complicated dispute.
The court decided that, under the terms of the agreement, Altimo (controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa group) was entitled to 13.7% of Cukurova shares put up as collateral.
However, the December court order said Cukurova should be granted a stay on the July ruling until its appeal had been heard. The court said a stay would allow Cukurova to retain control of the 13.7% stake, provided it pays the disputed US$1.4bn into a court account in escrow by the March due date.
This decision, that a payment into a court account has to be made, was quashed today by the Birtish Privy Council, according to the report.
Cukurova Telecom Holdings owns 53% of Turkcell Holding which, in turn, owns 51% of Turkcell Iletisim (the mobile operator). Sweden’s TeliaSonera owns the remaining stake in Turkcell Iletisim. Alfa owns 49% of Cukurova Telecom Holdings and Cukurova Holding controls 51%.
Curkurova Holding, Altimo and TeliaSonera have disputed Turkcell’s ownership for several years.
