Turkish investment firm Cukurova reportedly plans to appeal a court ruling to award a 13.7% indirect stake it holds in local mobile operator Turkcell to Russia’s Altimo.
The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled on 21 July that…
Turkish investment firm Cukurova reportedly plans to appeal a court ruling to award a 13.7% indirect stake it holds in local mobile operator Turkcell to Russia’s Altimo.
The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled on 21 July that Altimo was legally justified to take an extra 13.7% of Turkcell from Cukurova, after a number of defaults committed by the latter under their US$1.35bn loan agreement.
If the court declines Cukurova’s appeal, Altimo could validly raise its indirect holding of Altimo from 13.22% to 26.92%, according to reports.
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.
In addition, Cukurova is facing pressure to reduce its influence on Turkcell by Swedish incumbent TeliaSonera, which holds a 37 per cent stake in the operator.
Last month, TeliaSonera’s lawsuit to convene a shareholders meeting to remove Turkcell chairman Colin Williams over alleged impartiality violations was thrown out of court.
According to an accompanying statement by Turkcell, TeliaSonera’s case was rejected because it lacked a precedent.
Ultimately, the Swedish firm, together with Altimo, had been seeking to dilute the influence of Cukurova, and they had accused Williams of blocking attempts to increase the number of Turkcell’s independent board members.
Cukurova did not respond to requests for comment.
