Turkish mobile operator Turkcell is making another attempt to convene an annual general meeting, which has been long delayed because of its feuding shareholders.
Items on the agenda of the 2014 AGM, set for 29 May, include the discussion and approval of…
Turkish mobile operator Turkcell is making another attempt to convene an annual general meeting, which has been long delayed because of its feuding shareholders.
Items on the agenda of the 2014 AGM, set for 29 May, include the discussion and approval of financial reports for the years 2010 to 2013, the election of board members and the distribution of dividends.
Turkcell’s three major shareholders – Russian investment firm Altimo, Swedish telco TeliaSonera and Turkish businessman Mehmet Emin Karamehmet’s Cukurova Group – have been embroiled in a dispute which has prevented the operator from convening an AGM since April 2010.
Last year, the Turkish Capital Markets Board appointed seven members to the Turkcell board, saying the embattled shareholders had been unable to agree upon their own in the appointed time.
Part of the dispute relates to ongoing court cases in the UK and New York concerning Cukurova’s efforts to recover a 13.8% stake in Turkcell seized by Altimo after the Turkish holding defaulted on a loan. In February, the UK’s Privy Council decided to postpone the deadline for Cukurova to pay the approximate US$1.56bn needed to recover the stake until after a New York appeals court reaches a decision on a separate case. The New York case concerns Cukurova and TeliaSonera and is yet to be decided.
Turkey’s Oyak Securities Research said in a note to investors that the announcement of the AGM on 29 May is no cause for optimism.
“Although it may lead to some enthusiasm in the market for distribution of a possible bulk dividend, there has been no major development towards a resolution of the dispute among shareholders so far. It is necessary to keep in mind that is very unlikely unless the NY Court process between TeliaSonera and Cukurova comes to an end.”
Altimo, TeliaSonera and Cukurova were not immediately available for comment.
